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BV  2370  .A7  D9  1916  v. 2 
Dwight,  Henry  Otis,  1843- 

1917. 
The  centennial  history  of 


h 


<      1 


THE  CENTENNIAL  HISTORY 

OF  THE 

AMERICAN  BIBLE  SOCIETY 


•niE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

HEW  YORK   •    POSTON   •    CHICAGO  •    DALLAS 
ATLANTA  •    SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  •    BOMBAY   •    CALCUTTA 
MKLBOfRNB 

THE  AUCMILLAN  CO.  OF  CA^•ADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


JAMKS  WOOD 
President  of  the  American   Bible  Society,   1916 


The  Centennial  History 

of  the 

American  Bible  Society 


BY    y" 

HENRY  OTIS  DWIGHT 


VOLUME   II 


'^tva  fork 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1916 

All  rights  reser'ved 


Copyright   1916 

By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published,  April,  1916 


PREFACE 

In  dealing  with  so  serious  and  significant  a  subject  as  the 
effort  of  a  Society  to  increase  the  circulation  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  in  the  world  the  point  of  view  has  been  that  of  an 
humble  servant  acknowledging  that  success  in  the  effort  can 
proceed  only  from  the  guidance  and  help  of  Him  to  whom 
these  ancient  writings  belong. 

The  plan  of  this  book  has  excluded  many  things  which 
may  have  been  expected  to  appear  in  a  review  of  labours  cov- 
ering a  whole  century  of  the  world's  progress.  Its  aim  was 
to  make  a  book  to  be  read  by  the  people  rather  than  a  manual 
of  reference  for  the  student. 

It  is  natural,  then,  for  this  Centennial  History  to  seek  in 
every  chapter  the  glory  of  God.  The  pervasive,  living  power 
of  the  word  of  God  is  emphasised  by  the  facts  of  distribu- 
tion in  many  lands,  and  these  facts  suggest  praise  and  thanks- 
giving on  the  part  of  all  who  have  shared  in  the  development 
and  progress  of  the  Bible  cause. 

The  author  would  frankly  confess  his  obligation  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  William  I.  Haven  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Fox, 
his  colleagues  as  Secretaries  of  the  Society,  for  kindly  criti- 
cism of  the  manuscript,  much  to  its  advantage. 

In  publishing  this  record  of  the  first  hundred  years  of  the 
labours  of  the  American  Bible  Society  we  would  suggest  that 
it  is  only  the  beginning  of  a  story  which,  please  God,  will  con- 
tinue until  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  shall  cover  the  earth  as 
the  waters  cover  the  sea.  The  future  is  impenetrable  to  the 
vision  of  the  present  writer  as  it  was  to  the  men  who  founded 
the  Society  a  hundred  years  ago  and  bravely  set  forth  on  un- 
known paths.  Many  things  clearly  ought  to  be  done  in  the 
years  immediately  before  us.  In  the  meantime  all  may  look 
forward  with  yearning  and  pray  with  the  beloved  disciple, 
that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  may  hasten  His  coming. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

XXXV. 

XXXVI. 

XXX  VII. 

XXXVIII. 


FIFTH   PERIOD    1861-1871   {Continued) 


The  One  Talent  Hid  .  .  .  . 
Peoples  Who  Know  Not  God's  Law 
The  Jubilee  Celebration  of  1866  . 
Forget  Not  All  His  Benefits  . 


297 
308 
318 
326 


SIXTH   PERIOD    1871-1891 

XXXIX.  Paying  the  Cost  of  War 

XL.  Events  and  Emergencies  in  the  Bible  House 

XLI.  Making  the  Bible  Speak  with  Tongues  . 

XLII.  Distribution  in  the  Home  Land 

XLIII.  The  Bible  Sent  as  a  Foreign  Missionary 

XLIV.  Systematizing  the  Distribution  Abroad 

XLV.  The  Call  of  the  Far  East 

XLVI.  Japan  and  Korea 

XL VI I.  Mediating  between  Europe  and  Asia 

XLVIII.  Seventy-five  Years  of  Service 


337 
347 
357 
368 

379 
390 
401 
411 
420 
431 


SEVENTH   PERIOD    1891-1916 

XLIX.  At  the  Bible  House    .... 

L.  Changes  in  the  Auxiliary  System     . 

LI.  New  Methods  at  Home 

LI  I.  Latin  America 

LIII.  Opening  Doors  of  the  Far  East 

LIV.  The  White  Elephant  and  the  Dragon 

LV.  America  in  the  Orient 


440 

451 

460 
470 
482 
490 
503 


CONTEXTS 

LVl.     The  liiBLE  in  Apostolic  Fields        .         .         .         .512 

LVII.     The  Problem  of  Means 5^1 

L\'III.     Thy  Ordinances  are  My  Delight  .         .         .         -530 

Appendices 53^ 

Index 579 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

VOLUME   II 
James  Wood Frontispiece 

FACING   PAGE 

Travellers  in  Brazil 3^4 

100,000  Gospels  leaving  the  Bible  House  in  Yokohama         .         •  3H 

The  Philippines  —  A  catastrophe  in  Bible  transportation      .         .  380 

A  daughter  of  Modern  Mexico 394 

The  Union  Mandarin  Revision  Committee 406 

Selling  Bibles  in  Korea 4i8 

The  Constantinople  Bible  House 422 

Dr.  Bowen  and  the  colporteurs  in  Egypt 426 

A  great  work  well  done 448 

Carrying  Bibles  to  an  isolated  South  Dakota  farm         .        .         .460 

Quechua  Indians  of  Bolivia 47^ 

Binding  Scriptures  for  the  American  Bible  Society  in  Yokohama  490 

Bishop  Schereschewski 49^ 

A  Fisher  of  Men 522 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

THE  ONE  TALENT   HID 

The  tendency  of  Bible  ideas,  words  and  phrases  to  take 
a  permanent  place  in  the  language  is  of  exceeding  interest. 
Because  of  this  tendency  all  is  an  understatement  that  can 
be  said  of  the  Bible  as  a  mine  of  wisdom.  The  Book  unob- 
trusively moulds  thought  and  surrounds  the  reader  with  a 
pure  atmosphere  which  nourishes  spiritual  growth.  It  is  a 
precious  treasure  which  the  humblest  may  use,  like  the  talent 
in  the  parable,  for  the  increase  of  his  intellectual  and 
spiritual  capital.  Merely  as  a  civilising  agency  Bible  distri- 
bution, for  this  reason,  should  commend  itself  to  the  support 
of  all. 

For  various  reasons  a  good  many  people  in  their  treat- 
ment of  the  Bible  follow  the  notorious  example  of  the  man 
who  buried  his  talent  in  a  napkin.  Some  make  the  reading 
of  the  Bible  impracticable  by  giving  it  ponderous  weight  and 
massive  binding ;  some  make  the  reading  by  common  people 
a  crime  which  merits  anathema ;  some,  without  going  so  far 
as  to  punish  readers,  see  to  it  that  the  book  can  only  be 
found  wrapped  in  gorgeously  embroidered  cloths  on  the 
altar  of  a  church,  and  some,  though  free  from  such  restric- 
tions, cordially  neglect  reading  the  book  that  lies  open  in 
their  hands.  The  one  possession  which  might  make  all  rich 
is  buried  out  of  reach. 

What  the  Society  has  done  in  some  of  the  countries  where 
the  Bible  is  neglected  or  hidden  is  an  essential  part  of  this 
story.  The  undertaking  has  been  simple  conformity  to  the 
purpose  of  the  Master,  in  the  same  way  that  the  builder  of  a 
palace  tries  exactly  to  embody  in  stone  the  thought  and  plan 
of  the  architect.  American  Baptist  Missionaries  in  Sweden, 
and  Methodist  Episcopal  missions  in  Norway  and  in  Den- 
mark asked  and  received  during  this  period  $5,150  for  Bible 
distribution.     In  Denmark  the  use  of  a  grant  of  $650  illus- 

297 


298  THE  ONE  TALENT  HID  [1861- 

trates  how  widely  even  a  small  sum  may  serve  the  desti- 
tute. Scriptures  bought  with  the  grant  were  sold  at  cost 
or  less  whenever  possible.  With  the  proceeds  of  sales  more 
books  were  bought  and  sent  on  '*  missionary  excursions." 
After  five  years  the  missionaries  through  this  grant  had 
circulated  8,686  volumes,  and  their  expectation  of  typical 
fruits  from  the  sowing  was  as  well  grounded  as  that  of  the 
farmer  who  expects  to  reap  wheat  when  he  has  sown  wheat. 

During  the  period  of  the  Civil  War  (1861-1871),  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Mission  at  Bremen,  Germany,  received 
grants  amounting  to  $52,947,  applied  to  making  three  sets  of 
plates  of  the  German  Bible  and  two  of  the  New  Testament, 
and  printing  and  distributing  the  books  among  the  people. 
Tlie  scarcity  of  Scriptures  among  the  common  people,  and 
tlie  advantage  of  supplying  the  Book  to  emigrants  to  the 
L'nited  States  at  the  port  of  embarcation,  made  this  work 
like  the  despatch  of  shiploads  of  provisions  for  famishing 
families  in  Ireland  and  Russia.  Bible  distribution  was  op- 
I)osed  by  Roman  Catholic  priests  just  as  people  in  India  op- 
pose the  health  officers  who  try  to  save  them  from  the 
plag^ie.  But  Dr.  Jacobi,  the  missionary,  remarked  with 
satisfaction,  "  The  old  man  (the  Pope)  will  surely  be  con- 
vinced that  Protestantism  has  a  much  greater  force  than  he 
imagines." 

In  1864-65  Prussia  made  war  an  Denmark  over  Schleswig- 
Holstein ;  in  1866  on  Austria,  and  in  1870  on  France.  In 
all  these  wars  our  little  Testaments  went  to  barrack  and 
hospital.  One  wounded  man  said  to  the  colporteur  who 
j^ave  him  a  Testament :  "  What  on  earth  shall  I  do  with 
it  ?  "  But  a  few  weeks  later,  when  he  was  leaving  to  re- 
join his  regiment,  he  said  to  the  colporteur,  "  I  am  studying 
the  little  book  in  earnest,  and  thank  you  for  it."  In  the  war 
with  ]'>ance  a  German  lady  had  to  give  up  her  only  son  for 
service  in  the  Army.  Six  weeks  later,  the  battle  at  Sedan 
which  overthrew  the  Emperor  Napoleon  bereaved  this  lady. 
Comfort  came  to  her  like  a  voice  from  the  spirit  world,  how- 
ever, when  in  her  dead  boy's  effects  she  found  a  little  Testa- 
ment given  by  the  "  American  Bible  Society "  on  which 
were  marks  of  use  such  as  showed  that  her  son  had  lived  in 
harmony  of  purj)ose  with  her  and  with  her  God. 


1871]  AID  TO  FRANCE  AND  RUSSIA  299 

In  Russia  during  this  period  20,000  Testaments  were 
printed  at  the  expense  of  the  Society  by  the  Committee 
which  suppHed  the  destitute  Esthonians  of  the  district  of 
Reval.  Later  on  money  was  sent  to  the  Committee  at  St. 
Petersburg  to  buy  from  the  depot  of  the  Holy  Synod  Rus- 
sian New  Testaments  for  exiles  in  Siberia.  When  the 
books  arrived  at  Nikolaievsk  (about  4,000  miles  from  St. 
Petersburg),  they  were  sent  up  the  Amur  River  500  miles, 
and  rejoiced  the  hearts  of  the  poor  exiles.  Grants  for  the 
Russian  work  during  these  nine  years  amounted  to  $17,497. 
Good  will  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  knows  no  limitations. 

In  France  at  that  time  any  failure  to  use  the  Bible  was 
due,  perhaps,  less  to  government  restrictions  than  to  fear  of 
the  Church  hierarchy.  Here  is  a  reason,  if  one  must 
needs  be  given,  for  the  Society's  labours  in  such  lands. 
Old  friendship  for  France,  too,  was  a  special  reason  for  aid 
rendered  to  the  French  Bible  Societies.  The  French  Prot- 
estant Bible  Society,  organised  in  1818,  in  1863  changed  its 
constitution  and  began  to  publish  an  imperfect  version  of 
the  Bible.  Upon  this  a  minority  of  its  managers  resigned 
and  in  1864  united  with  the  French  and  Foreign  Bible  So- 
ciety forming  a  new  body  called  the  Bible  Society  of  France. 
Tq  this  new  organisation  the  American  Bible  Society  gave 
some  $13,000  in  this  period.  The  money  was  used  in  print- 
ing and  distributing  Scriptures  in  France.  In  1870  the 
French  Society  reported  that  in  the  six  years  since  its  or- 
ganisation it  had  put  in  circulation  60,000  volumes. 

The  Board  of  Managers  in  1863  made  a  re-statement  of 
its  policy  toward  the  nations  more  or  less  destitute  of  the 
Bible.  It  declared  that  while  the  Society  is  under  obligation 
to  enter  every  open  field  where  American  missionaries  ask 
its  aid,  America,  excepting  Canada,  is  its  special  field.  Latin 
America,  including  Mexico,  Central  America  and  Soufh 
America  with  their  island  dependencies,  should  be  supplied 
with  all  diligence  in  addition  to  the  vast  home  field.  From 
1 86 1  to  1 87 1  the  expenditures  in  Latin  America  amounted 
to  $10,486,  besides  grants  of  books. 

Mexico  both  attracted  and  repelled  eflforts  to  supply  its 
people  with  Scriptures.  Until  1861  the  Rev.  James  Hickey, 
a  Baptist  minister  in  Texas,  had  been  actively  distributing 


300 


THE  ONE  TALENT  HID  [i86i- 


Scriptures  and  tracts  among  Mexicans  near  the  Rio  Grande. 
W  hen  the  Civil  War  blazed  up,  hoping  to  continue  his  work 
unhampered  by  the  crisis  in  the  United  States,  he  removed 
from  Texas  to  Monterey  in  Mexico.  There  he  received  oc- 
casional grants  of  Scriptures  from  the  Society  and  put  some 
nine  hundred  volumes  into  circulation  chictiy  by  sale. 

The  earnestness  and  devotion  of  Mr.  Hickey  led  the  Board 
in  the  latter  part  of  1862  to  appoint  him  Agent  of  the  So- 
ciety for  Mexico,  expecting  him  to  live  in  Mexico  City. 
Meanwhile,  England,  France,  and  Spain  had  intervened  to 
regulate  the  chaos  in  Mexico,  and  had  disagreed  as  to  the 
measures  to  be  adopted.  France  was  left  to  act  alone.  In 
June,  1863,  French  troops  captured  Mexico  City,  to  the 
great  joy  of  the  clerical  party,  which  opposed  Juarez.  The 
country  was  full  of  fighting  men  —  partisans  of  the  French, 
I)artisans  of  Juarez,  and  plain,  unblushing  bandits ;  but  Mr. 
Hickey  was  not  afraid  to  travel.  His  adventurous  ex- 
cursions took  him  into  the  states  of  Tamaulipas,  Zacatecas 
and  San  Luis  Potosi.  The  marvel  of  his  ventures  was  that 
everywhere  he  aroused  interest  in  the  Bible  which  he  car- 
ried. But  the  roads,  he  said,  were  "  such  as  to  smash  any 
wagon  not  made  of  spring  steel." 

The  fame  of  the  Bible  spread  through  the  country.  Mr. 
Hickey  wrote  in  1865  :  "  So  soon  as  the  Heavenly  Father 
sends  peace  I  propose  to  send  four  colporteurs  into  Tamaul- 
ipas to  distribute  Scriptures  in  every  town  and  ranch  in  the 
state."  But  this  was  not  to  be.  Again  and  again  Mr. 
Hickey  had  to  make  the  difficult  journey  of  some  two  hun- 
dred miles  from  Monterey  to  Brownsville  because  there  was 
no  other  way  of  securing  the  books  sent  from  New  York. 
Early  in  1866  he  suffered  from  exposure  on  a  journey  for 
books,  and  was  laid  up  with  pneumonia  at  Brownsville  for 
nearly  two  weeks.  He  went  to  work  again  while  still  far 
from  well,  and  toward  the  close  of  the  year  he  took  the  same 
hard  journey  again  to  replenish  his  stock.  Illness  followed 
his  arrival  at  Brownsville,  and  on  the  loth  of  December, 
iHCyC),  this  brave  servant  of  Christ  rested  from  his  arduous 
labours. 

The  impression  of  such  a  life  on  the  country  was  last- 
ing.    General  Lew  Wallace  later  passed  through  the  region 


iS/i]         THE  BIBLE  AMONG  MEXICANS  301 

where  Mr.  Hickey  had  laboured  and  was  surprised  at  the 
profound  respect  in  which  the  people  held  his  memory. 
The  reason  of  this  respect  was  partly  the  high  character  of 
the  man,  but  chiefly  the  quality  of  the  Book.  It  quickly  won 
the  love  of  the  soul-hungry  people.  One  Mexican  on  hear- 
ing some  verses  read,  instantly  said  to  his  wife,  "  That  is  a 
book  to  open  a  man's  eyes ;  buy  it !  "  And  she  did.  "  Is 
not  my  word  like  as  a  fire,  saith  the  Lord,  and  like  a  ham- 
mer that  breaketh  the  rock  in  pieces  ?  " 

Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Hickey,  Mr.  Thomas  Westrup 
was  appointed  agent  of  the  Society.  He  was  prepared  for 
the  work  by  missionary  labour  on  the  border  and  well- 
seasoned  for  its  extraordinary  demands.  The  obstructive- 
ness  of  the  priests  whose  cause  seemed  to  be  looking  up 
since  the  advent  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  was  less  of  a 
hindrance  to  Bible  work  than  the  outlawry  which  flourished 
under  cover  of  resistance  to  the  French  invasion. 

Maximilian's  exotic  Empire  was  doomed,  however,  as 
soon  as  the  end  of  civil  war  in  the  United  States  permitted 
Mr.  Seward,  with  some  hundreds  of  thousands  of  seasoned 
soldiers  at  hand,  to  speak  seriously  to  Napoleon  III  concern- 
ing French  armies  in  Mexico.  Early  in  1867  Bazaine  and 
his  troops  embarked  for  France.  The  tragedy  of  Queretaro, 
June  19th,  1867,  was  the  natural  consequence  —  a  shock  to 
the  whole  civilised  world,  a  cup  of  gall  to  Napoleon  III,  and 
an  ominous  beginning  for  the  new  freedom  of  Mexico. 

The  clerical  party  was  much  enfeebled  by  this  catastrophe. 
Local  officials,  Mr.  Westrup  wrote,  declared  that  the  new 
constitution  made  Bible  burning  illegal.  In  the  three  years 
of  his  agency  he  put  in  circulation  about  8,000  volumes  of 
Scripture  in  Tamaulipas,  Nueva  Leon,  Chihuahua,  Dur- 
ango,  San  Luis  Potosi,  and  Zacatecas.  The  proceeds  of 
sales  in  1869  were  $1,100  —  good  evidence  that  the  book  was 
wanted  by  the  people.  There  were  little  groups  of  Bible 
readers  in  many  places,  and  the  Bible  could  be  seen  to  be 
changing  brutes  into  men.  Colonel  Rodriguez  in  Tamaul- 
ipas described  the  revolution  wrought  in  his  own  life  by 
saying,  "  I  have  not  changed  my  profession.  I  have  only 
changed  my  commanding  Officer !  "  Miss  Melinda  Rankin, 
always  vigorously  at  work,  reported  converts  to  New  Testa- 


302  THE  ONE  TALENT  HID  [1861- 

ment  Christianity  of  all  ages  —  an  old  woman  of  sixty-nine 
and  a  boy  of  thirteen  —  in  the  place  in  Nueva  Leon  where 
she  now  laboured.  Two  men  who  had  threatened  to  shoot 
any  one  who  should  bring  Bibles  to  their  village  were  found 
among  tlie  humble  students  of  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ. 

By  the  beginning  of  1870  the  new  order  of  things  in 
Mexico  led  to  the  opening  of  missions  by  different  denomina- 
tions. The  Society  made  grants  of  books  and  money,  500 
Bibles  to  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Mission,  $2,750  to  the 
American  and  Foreign  Christian  Union  for  Rev.  H.  C. 
Riley,  its  missionary  in  Mexico  City.  The  missions  found 
instant  response  among  Bible  readers,  particularly  in  the 
six  states  named  above,  where  to  this  day  are  found  a  large 
proportion  of  the  adherents  of  Protestant  missions.  Mr. 
Westrup  had  taken  part  in  laying  foundations,  he  now 
yearned  for  a  share  in  the  building.  In  1870  he  resigned 
in  order  to  enter  the  service  of  the  American  Baptist  Home 
Mission  Society,  in  Northern  Mexico. 

Entreaties  of  the  American  ^Missionaries  in  Buenos  Aires 
decided  the  Board  in  1864  to  appoint  an  Agent  for  that  part 
of  South  America.  Mr.  Andrew  Milne,  a  young  Scot  living 
in  Buenos  Aires,  was  selected  for  the  post.  With  a  delicate 
sensitiveness  to  comity,  the  Board  instructed  him  to  estab- 
lish the  Agency  in  Montevideo  because  the  British  and  For- 
eign Bible  Society  had  labourers  in  Buenos  Aires. 

Mr.  Milne  was  connected  with  a  mercantile  house,  but 
hours  that  were  his  own  he  had  long  devoted  to  missionary 
effort  among  the  people  of  the  city.  He  gladly  began  serv- 
ice of  the  Society  in  June,  1864.  From  his  appointment 
dates  the  opening  of  serious  work  of  the  Society  in  behalf 
of  the  Spanish  speaking  parts  of  the  southern  continent. 
The  vision  of  a  Christian  worker  always  outruns  his  imme- 
diate surroundings.  While  Mr.  Milne  in  1864  was  advised 
to  begin  his  efforts  in  Entre  Rios,  one  of  the  fourteen  prov- 
inces of  Argentina,  he  foresaw  that  one  day  the  Bible  would 
nourish  the  lives  of  divers  tribes  and  nations,  from  the  At- 
lantic to  the  Pacific  and  from  the  equator  to  Cape  Horn. 

Since  l)y  this  time  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
had  opened  a  depository  in  Montevideo,  Mr.  Milne,  to  avoid 
appearance  of  rivalr)-,  established  his  agency  at  Rosario,  on 


1871]       DR.  TRUMBULL  IN  VALPARAISO  303 

the  Parana  River.  From  Rosario  Mr.  George  Schmidt,  an 
energetic  colporteur,  was  sent  to  explore  the  northern  coun- 
try. He  visited  many  of  the  chief  cities,  besides  the  villages 
and  ranches  as  far  west  as  Jujuy  in  the  skirts  of  the  Andes, 
some  seven  hundred  miles  from  Rosario. 

When  the  work  of  the  Agency  began  in  1864  the  Bible 
was  the  rarest  of  books  in  that  region.  By  slow  and  patient 
methods  Mr.  Milne  and  one  or  two  colporteurs  in  the  first 
six  years  of  his  agency  had  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  people 
of  many  towns  and  villages  as  far  as  to  the  borders  of 
Brazil  and  of  Peru  a  total  of  about  25,000  copies  of  Scrip- 
ture. The  wide  dispersion  of  these  books  prepared  the  way 
somewhat  for  missions  of  many  denominations.  A  salient 
feature  of  this  work  was  the  ceaseless  and  even  virulent 
opposition  of  leading  men  of  the  church  which  for  three  cen- 
turies had  dealt  with  the  nation  as  though  its  existence  de- 
pended upon  keeping  the  book  inactive.  This  opposition  in 
turn  brought  to  light  evidences  that  the  Bible  frees  men's 
minds  from  arbitrary  control.  At  a  little  mud  ranch  in  the 
country  which  seemed  hardly  worth  a  visit,  Mr.  Milne  in 
1870  discovered  a  refined  lady  who  said,  "  I  have  a  Bible  al- 
ready ;  it  is  worth  more  to  me  than  an  ounce  of  pure  gold ! 
The  priest  ordered  me  to  give  it  up  to  be  burned  but  I  told 
him  I  would  as  soon  think  of  burning  my  clothes !  " 

To  Peru  the  Society  sent  Scriptures  through  Rev.  Mr. 
McKim,  missionary  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Chris- 
tian Union  at  Lima.  Chile,  settled  by  the  Spanish  in  1541, 
lies  between  the  crest  of  the  Andes  and  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
and  the  Society  treated  its  needs  as  a  problem  separate  from 
those  of  Mr.  Milne's  Agency.  Rev.  Dr.  Trumbull  at  Val- 
paraiso completed  in  1871  his  twenty-fifth  year  of  hearty 
co-operation  with  the  Society.  During  this  period  the  Val- 
paraiso Bible  Society,  organised  in  1862,  with  Dr.  Trumbull 
as  president,  pressed  Bible  distribution  among  English,  Ger- 
mans, and  Americans  in  the  city  and  reached  out  among 
Chilians  in  adjoining  districts.  During  seven  years  the  Val- 
paraiso Bible  Society  in  1870  had  put  in  circulation  7,000 
copies  of  the  Scriptures. 

In  regard  to  Central  America,  and  Colombia  then  known 

as  New  Granada,  little  can  be  said  except  that  the  Board  in- 


304  THE  OXE  TAEEXT  HID  [1861- 

tcntly  watched  for  opportunities  of  Bible  distribution  while 
the  unrest  of  revolution  bubbled  and  boiled  like  a  witch's 
mixture  in  a  cauldron.  In  1863  the  Rev.  \V.  H.  Norris  was 
appointed  Agent  of  the  Society  for  Central  America  and 
New  Granada.  But  early  in  1864  ]\Ir.  Xorris'  health  gave 
way,  and  he  was  obliged  to  resign.  The  Rev.  W.  H.  Gulick 
of  Caraccas,  \'enezuela,  and  Air.  F.  Hicks  of  Panama,  in- 
dependent and  self-supporting  missionaries,  w-ere  now  fur- 
nished Scriptures  for  distribution.  In  1866  the  agency  of 
the  British  Society  was  withdrawn  from  Bogota  and  the 
American  Society  took  steps  to  aid  American  missionaries 
in  Colombia  as  it  had  always  done.  In  the  West  Indies  the 
work  of  the  Society,  during  this  period,  was  still  rather  de- 
sultor>^  in  character,  books  being  sent  in  small  parcels  to 
missionaries  or  other  Christian  workers  in  Cuba,  Hayti,  and 
Porto  Rico;  but  nothing  being  attempted  in  the  way  of  a 
l)ermancnt  Agency  for  the  islands. 

When  American  missionaries  began  to  establish  them- 
selves, far  south  of  the  eastward  straggling  islands,  in 
Brazil,  they  were  glad  to  handle  Scriptures  for  the  Society. 
Rev.  Mr.  Simonton  and  Rev.  Mr.  Blackford  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Mission  in  Rio  Janeiro,  during  this  period  em- 
ployed colporteurs  at  the  expense  of  the  Society.  Farther 
nortli  the  Rev.  R.  Holden  of  the  American  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Mission  at  Para,  each  year  after  his  arrival  received 
grants  from  the  Society,  employed  colporteurs  and  himself 
travelled  widely  to  distribute  Scriptures  until  1864.  Then 
he  was  formally  appointed  Agent  of  the  Society.  The 
Board  was  rather  surprised,  however,  to  learn  that  before 
the  notice  of  this  appointment  had  reached  Mr.  Holden  he 
had  been  engaged  as  Agent  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society. 

In  all  such  distributions  the  Bible  permanently  w^ins  the 
hearts  of  some.  Here  and  there  people  were  reading  the 
Biljles  bought  from  Mr.  Fletcher,  the  former  Agent  of  the 
Society.  Mr.  lilackford  wrote  joyfully  of  results  of  the  sow- 
er s  work  that  came  under  his  own  eyes.  The  story  of  a  con- 
vert at  Sao  Paulo  suggests  that  in  many  places  the  Bible  even 
now  may  be  working  silently  and  imperceptibly.  A  very  old 
woman   rebuked  this  man  when  a  boy   for  noisy  play  on 


1871]     RESTRICTIONS  REMOVED  IN  ITALY      305 

Sunday,  and  read  to  him  out  of  a  book  the  command  to  keep 
the  Sabbath  holy.  She  also  let  him  read  in  the  book,  which 
was  the  Bible.  When  he  grew  up  he  sent  to  Rio  Janeiro  to 
get  a  Bible ;  but  could  not,  for  the  price  was  twenty-five  dol- 
lars. Some  time  afterward  the  teacher  of  the  public  school 
gave  hirn  a  Spanish  Bible,  printed  by  the  American  Bible 
Society  in  1824.  The  man  learned  Spanish  solely  for  the 
purpose  of  reading  the  Bible.  For  twenty  years  that  man 
had  privately  studied  the  Bible,  and  when  the  missionaries 
arrived  in  Sao  Paulo  he  was  entirely  ready  to  make  public 
profession  of  his  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  Mr.  Blackford 
wrote  in  this  connection :  *'  Results  may  seem  small  as 
compared  with  the  outlay,  but  such  facts  as  this  prove  the 
work  to  be  worth  while !  "  The  sincerity  of  the  Brazilian 
lovers  of  the  Bible  received  further  testimony  when  the  little 
church  at  Rio  Janeiro  out  of  its  poverty  sent  a  donation  of 
twenty-five  dollars  to  the  Society  as  a  token  of  the  gratitude 
of  its  members. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  period  a  few  governments  of  Eu- 
rope served  the  clergy,  guarding  the  Bible  with  the  sword. 
In  the  Papal  states  as  well  as  the  small  countries  in  central 
and  Southern  Italy,  the  police  constantly  watched  against 
the  admission  of  Bibles.  Even  an  American  who  went  to 
Rome  would  have  his  Bible  taken  from  him  as  soon  as  he 
crossed  the  line.  A  species  of  madness  seemed  to  possess 
the  authorities.^  After  Italy  became  one  united  kingdom 
the  police  restrictions  were  removed  excepting  in  the  Papal 
states  and  the  Society  speedily  took  advantage  of  this  situa- 
tion. The  Rev.  William  Clark,  formerly  a  missionary  in 
Turkey,  was  sent  by  the  American  and  Foreign-  Christian 
Union  to  Milan  and  the  Society  furnished  him  with  money 
to  circulate  Scriptures.  It  also  made  grants  to  the  Geneva 
Italian  Committee  whose  work  in  the  north  of  Italy  it  had 
long  aided,  and  to  a  Waldensian  Committee  in  Florence, 
first  to  print  Scriptures,  and  finally  for  making  a  complete 
set  of  plates  of  the  Bible  in  Italian  to  be  used  at  Florence. 
The  grants  of  the  Society  for  printing  and  distributing 
Scriptures  in  Italy  through  these  channels  amounted  during 
the  nine  years  to  $24,240.  During  this  period  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society  and  the  Scottish  National  Bible 


3o6  THE  ONE  TALENT  HID  [1861- 

Society  were  working  with  great  vigour  in  all  parts  of  Italy 
and  the  American  Society  refrained  from  placing  colpor- 
teurs in  the  held. 

Toward  the  close  of  this  period  the  great  Vatican  Council 
assenihled  in  order  to  declare  as  a  dogma  of  the  church  the 
infallibility  of  the  Pope  in  matters  of  spiritual  guidance. 
On  the  i8th  of  July,  1870,  this  dogma  of  infallibility  w^as 
proclaimed  with  all  the  pomp  and  ceremony  of  which  the 
ancient  church  of  Rome  is  capable.  On  the  same  day 
France,  whose  troops  w-ere  protecting  Rome  against  liberty, 
declared  war  against  Germany.  Within  two  months  the 
French  Empire  had  been  overthrown;  her  troops  w^ere  re- 
called from  Rome,  and  Italians  occupied  the  city,  and 
temporal  sovereignty  was  wrenched  from  the  paralysing  grip 
of  the  church ! 

In  Spain  almost  more  than  in  Italy  arbitrary  powder  for- 
bade the  people's  access  to  the  book  that  gives  men  under- 
standing. Worthy  men  were  imprisoned  for  reading  it. 
After  the  revolution  of  September,  1868,  when  Queen  Isa- 
bella fled  the  country  and  ^larshal  Serrano  was  installed  at 
Madrid  as  Regent,  freedom  seemed  to  have  displaced 
tyranny  even  in  the  domain  of  religion.  The  American  and 
h'orcign  Christian  Union  estabHshed  a  mission  at  Seville 
and  the  Board  granted  it  5.000  copies  of  Scripture.  But  the 
Spanish  Custom  Flouse  stopped  the  books.  By  the  inter- 
vention of  General  Daniel  E.  Sickles,  the  American  Min- 
ister, the  Custom  House  released  the  books  one  full  year 
after  their  seizure.  The  boxes  of  Bibles  were  view^ed  by 
every  official  "  with  deepest  malignity,"  wrote  Rev.  H.  C. 
1  fall  at  Seville,  for  they  contained  the  first  Bibles,  perhaps, 
ever  regularly  passed  by  that  Custom  House.  As  we  shall 
later  see,  they  were  not  the  last. 

Thus  the  treasure  long  hidden  has  been  gradually  put  into 
use  among  multitudes.  The  word  "  talent  "  used  to  be  a 
Greek  word  of  money  value.  Its  adoption  into  many  lan- 
guages with  a  nobler  meaning  reveals  the  wide  dissemina- 
tion of  the  Bible,  where  our  Saviour's  parable  attached  to 
tlie  old  Greek  word  the  sense  of  an  endowment  or  gift  avail- 
aljlc  f(^r  success  in  life.     The  I'ible  itself  is  such  an  endow- 


iS/i]      EFFORT  APPEALS  TO  SMYPATHY         307 

ment,  for  neglect  of  which  none  can  escape  accountabiHty. 
Hence  the  effort  to  give  the  book  free  course  in  lands  where 
men  have  concealed  or  neglected  it  appeals  to  the  sympathy 
and  support  of  every  true  Christian. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

PEOPLES   WHO   KNOW    NOT   GOD's   LAW 

Warm  as  was  interest  in  the  nations  among  whom  the 
Biljle  was  hid  from  the  common  people,  sympathy  and 
yearning  to  help  could  not  but  go  out  toward  the  millions 
of  pagans  and  ^lohammedans  whose  lands  seemed  to  form 
a  sort  of  anarchistic  reservation  on  the  earth,  where  the  law 
of  God  was  not  known, 

India,  one  of  the  countries  of  this  class,  had  held  for 
many  years  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  members  of  the  So- 
ciety. The  aid  of  the  Society  was  given  to  American  Mis- 
sionaries in  Ceylon,  at  Madura,  and  in  the  Arcot  region  of 
South  India,  in  Lucknow  and  the  Lodiana  district  in  North 
India.  The  languages  of  India  in  which  Scriptures  were 
published  or  circulated  during  this  period  at  the  expense 
of  the  Society  were  Tamil,  Telugu,  Marathi,  Uriye,  Urdu, 
Hindi  and  Panjabi.  The  cost  to  the  Society  of  printing  and 
distribution  from  i86i  to  1871  in  different  parts  of  the 
country  amounted  to  $57,859. 

In  1866  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jacob  Chamberlain  of  the  Reformed 
Church  Arcot  Mission,  made  a  tour  for  the  Society  in  the 
territories  of  the  Nizam  of  Hyderabad,  little  known  because 
of  the  surly  fanaticism  of  the  population  outside  of  the 
great  cities.  The  tour  was  an  exploration,  an  opportunity 
for  distribution  of  Scriptures  among  all  classes,  and  an  un- 
dertaking adventurous  and  even  dangerous  to  the  devoted 
missionary.  Many  of  the  people  in  their  ignorance  could 
i¥Jt  make  out  the  sense  of  a  Gospel  unless  some  one  ex- 
IKHindefl  it.  One  man  in  South  India,  after  buying  a  por- 
tion brought  it  back  because  he  said  *'  it  had  offended  his 
household  god."  Another  one  liked  the  little  book  so  much 
that  he  came  to  ask  the  missionaries  if  he  ought  not  to  offer 
it  worship.     On  the  other  hand  there  was  some  intelligent 

308 


1861-1871]     PRINTING  FOR  MICRONESIA  309 

use  of  the  books.  An  inspector  of  police,  a  Brahmin,  said 
to  a  missionary :  "  There  never  was  a  being  Hke  Jesus 
Christ,  and  never  a  book  hke  the  Bible.  Though  I  have 
eaten  a  meal,  if  I  have  not  read  my  Bible  I  am  hungry  still." 

In  Siam  with  money  furnished  by  the  Society,  the  Presby- 
terian Mission  Press  at  Bangkok  printed  during  this  period 
29,000  copies  of  Scripture,  including  the  four  Gospels,  St. 
Paul's  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  to  the  Corinthians,  Gene- 
sis, Exodus,  and  Leviticus,  all  in  separate  portions  gener- 
ously distributed. 

An  atmosphere  of  romance  hangs  about  the  palm-clad 
atolls  of  Micronesia.  But  the  missionaries  of  the  Ameri- 
can Board  found  little  o.f  romance  when  they  visited  one  is- 
land after  another  where  the  unclothed  people  were  sunk  in 
ignorance,  without  an  idea  of  reading  or  writing,  or  of  an 
alphabet.  During  this  period,  however,  the  Society  printed 
Scriptures  pretty  continuously  at  the  Bible  House  and  at 
Honolulu  for  use  in  these  little  islands ;  schools  having  pre- 
pared the  natives  to  read.  The  English  alphabet  was  used, 
as  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  for  writing  the  different  lan- 
guages. Portions  of  Scripture  for  the  Marshall  Islands, 
for  the  Gilbert  Islands,  and  for  Kusaie  (Strong's  Island) 
were  printed  at  Honolulu  at  the  expense  of  the  Society, 
and  a  large  family  Bible  in  Hawaiian  as  well  as  a  New 
Testament  in  Hawaiian  and  English  in  parallel  columns 
were  printed  at  the  Bible  House  in  New  York.  There  was 
large  demand  for  both  of  these  last  named  books,  although 
it  was  the  opinion  of  the  missionaries  that  the  natives  of  the 
Hawaiian  Islands,  at  least,  would  gradually  lose  their 
identity  by  mingling  with  foreigners  who  were  taking  up 
their  abode  in  those  charming  surroundings. 

The  acceptance  of  the  Scriptures  in  Micronesia  is  shown 
in  a  letter  of  Rev.  Mr.  Snow  of  the  American  Board's  Mis- 
sion in  Kusaie,  who  had  been  absent  from  the  island  for 
many  months,  leaving  the  people  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  for 
their  instruction.  On  his  return  in  1864,  he  found  that 
some  forty  persons  had  made  up  their  minds  during  his 
absence  to  surrender  to  Jesus  Christ.  In  a  Sunday  School 
were  118  pupils  of  all  ages  in  twelve  classes  studying  the 
Gospels.     Many  had  committed  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  to 


3IO  PEOPLES  WHO  KNOW  NOT  [1861- 

mcmory.  Mr.  Snow  brought  them  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mat- 
thew, just  printed.  The  people  were  over  joyed.  In  groups 
of  three  or  four  that  evening  they  were  lying  around  their 
Httle  lamps  reading  the  new  book.  The  Society  could  not 
but  hasten  the  printing  of  the  Bible  for  people  giving  it  such 
a  welcome. 

In  China,  as  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  of  translators,  the  "  term 
question  "  ^  persisted  because  missionaries  were  unable  to 
unite  upon  a  Chinese  term  for  ''  God."  A  compromise  usu- 
ally i)ermitted  the  printing  of  either  Shangti  or  Shen  in  edi- 
tions of  the  Bible  for  the  missions  which  respectively  re- 
quired either  term.  By  Dr.  Schereschewski  a  curious  ex- 
periment was  made  in  his  Mandarin  Old  Testament.  He  in- 
troduced the  term  Ticnchu,  supported  by  the  fact  that  it  had 
l)cen  used  by  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  for  two  hundred 
years.  It  never  came  into  use,  however,  in  Protestant  mis- 
sions, and  it  did  not  appear  in  the  Mandarin  Old  Testa- 
ment after  1899. 

Bible  translation  at  the  expense  of  the  Society  steadily 
went  on,  driven  by  the  needs  of  China's  vast  multitudes. 
The  Board  had  recognised  in  1852  a  committee  composed  of 
Bishop  Boone  and  Rev.  Dr.  E.  C.  Bridgman,  once  members 
of  the  '*  Delegates'  "  Committee,  Rev.  Dr.  Culbertson,  Rev. 
Dr.  Jenkins,  of  Shanghai,  and  Rev.  Dr.  McClay  of  Fuchow, 
as  a  Committee  of  translation  with  power  to  publish  the 
liible  when  completed.  The  version  of  the  New  Testament 
prepared  by  this  American  Committee  was  published  in 
1854  and  that  of  the  whole  Bible  in  1862.  Dr.  Bridgman 
did  not  live  to  complete  the  work,  passing  from  this  life  in 
1 86 1.  Dr.  Culbertson  had  the  privilege  of  seeing  the  work 
finished  before  he  died  in  1862.  This  version  was  more 
faithful  in  rendering  the  original,  but  less  elegant  in  Chinese 
style  than  the  Delegates'  version.  It  had  a  very  large  circu- 
lation during  forty  years,  being  the  first  complete  Bible  in 
Chinese  i)ublished  by  the  Society.  Even  now  the  demand 
for  it  requires  it  to  be  kept  in  stock  at  the  depository  at 
Shanghai. 

During  this  period  the  printing  of  the  Fuchow  colloquial 

1  Sec  Chapter  XXIX. 


iSyi]  GRATUITOUS  DISTRIBUTION  311 

version  of  the  Bible  and  tentative  portions  of  a  Mandarin 
version  called  for  grants.  The  Society  in  May,  1869,  re- 
quested the  Board  of  Managers  to  hasten  the  publication  of 
a  Mandarin  version  since  it  is  generally  understood  through- 
out China.  A  committee  at  Peking,  of  which  Bishop 
Schereschewski  was  a  member,  took  up  the  work  and  in 
1872  the  New  Testament  in  Mandarin  was  published  at  the 
joint  expense  of  the  American  and  British  Bible  Societies. 
This  was  a  new  practical  illustration  of  federation,  cau- 
tiously tested  in  the  field  by  missionaries,  its  timid  inventors, 
and  thus  commended  to  the  Boards  at  home. 

Up  to  the  year  1866,  grants  of  the  Society  to  missions  in 
China  had  been  designated  for  the  expense  of  translation 
and  printing;  the  missionaries  distributing  the  books  com- 
monly without  asking  payment  from  the  people.  As  early 
as  1866  the  Presbyterian  Mission  in  Shanghai  experimented 
with  sales.  Five  colporteurs  were  sent  out  who  left  some 
part  of  the  Bible,  generally  by  sale,  in  30,000  Chinese  fami- 
lies ;  and  when  a  proposal  was  made  by  this  and  other  mis- 
sions that  a  part  of  the  money  granted  by  the  Society  should 
be  used  to  support  colporteurs,  the  Board  could  not  very 
well  refuse.  A  good  colporteur  in  a  pagan  land  is  the  face 
of  a  personified,  smiling,  well-wishing  Christianity.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  missionaries  were  authorised  to  use  some  part 
of  the  Society's  grants  for  maintaining  colporteurs. 

Such  a  development  of  the  activities  of  the  Society  might 
be  suspected  by  some  to  be  partly  owing  to  the  weakness  of  a 
people  unable  to  resist  energetic  foreigners.  It  was,  how- 
ever, encouraged  by  the  reception  given  to  the  Bible  by  the 
Chinese.  A  missionary  cautioned  some  country  people  to 
whom  he  was  giving  Bible  portions  to  take  care  of  the 
books.  One  of  the  peasants  said  to  him :  "  Do  you  mean 
that  you  think  we  would  destroy  printed  books  ?  Never  !  " 
A  certain  amount  of  discrimination  and  intelligence  was  al- 
ways shown  by  the  people  after  the  practice  of  selling 
Scriptures  drew  more  thoughtful  attention  to  the  books. 
Rev.  Mr.  Mills,  a  Presbyterian  Missionary  of  Tungchow, 
travelled  far  afield  and  sold  a  considerable  number  of  Scrip- 
tures in  the  very  birthplace  of  Confucius.  Rev.  Dr.  Blod- 
gett  of  the  American  Board's  North  China  Mission,  hap- 


312  PEOPLES  WHO  KNOW  NOT  [1861- 

pcncd  upon  a  little  company  of  Chinese  studying  the  Bible 
by  night.  They  were  weavers  who  had  to  work  late  in 
finishing  some  special  order,  and  one  of  their  number  would 
be  asked  to  read  the  Bible  to  them  while  they  worked.  In 
one  of  these  serious  groups  of  weavers  the  reader  was  a 
woman.  As  among  all  other  races,  some  among  the  Chinese, 
too.  learned  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  through  the  unaided  read- 
ing of  the  Scriptures.  Rev.  Dr.  Martin,  of  the  Presbyterian 
Mission,  wrote  of  a  Chinaman  who  had  never  seen  a  mis-: 
sionary,  but  had  become  convinced  of  the  truth  by  poring 
over  a  Bible  which  years  ago  had  somehow  fallen  into  his 
liands.  Such  incidents  thrillingly  show  the  fitness  of  the 
blessed  book  for  inner  needs  of  every  race  of  men. 

Several  times  the  question  of  appointing  an  Agent  for 
China  was  raised  in  the  Board  of  Managers.  Both  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  and  the  National  So- 
ciety of  Scotland  were  represented  in  China  by  Agents,  and 
many  of  the  American  missionaries  thought  that  Bible  dis- 
tribution could  be  more  effective  under  supervision  of  an 
Agent  of  the  Society.  The  Board,  however,  did  not  wish 
to  incur  the  expense.  As  late  as  1868  it  decided  again  that 
so  long  as  missionaries  were  willing  to  superintend  distribu- 
tion, the  money  might  well  be  committed  to  them  for  that 
purpose.  Five  years  later,  however,  Bible  distribution  ab- 
sorbed so  much  time  that  the  Board  appointed  the  Rev.  L. 
TI.  Ciulick,  M.D.,  a  missionary  who  had  served  long  in 
Micronesia,  to  be  Agent  of  the  Society  for  China  and  Japan. 
The  books  in  Mandarin,  in  Classical  and  in  local  colloquials 
printed  at  the  expense  of  the  Society  in  Shanghai  and 
h\ichow,  were  being  sent  to  Nanking,  Hankow,  Peking, 
Tientsin,  and  far  up  the  Yangtse  River  as  w^ell  as  among 
the  coast  provinces.  Grants  were  being  made  to  the  Ameri- 
can Board,  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal,  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal, the  Presbyterian,  and  the  Reformed  Church  (Dutch) 
missions.  From  the  beginning  (in  1833)  of  the  Society's 
serious  work  in  China  until  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Gulick 
as  Agent  in  1874,  1,594,818  volumes  of  Scripture  had  been 
printed  in  Chinese,  and  1.300,000  of  them  had  been  put  into 
circulation.  The  cost  to  the  Society  of  this  great  work  w^as 
$215,280.93. 


1871]  A  JAPANESE  EMBASSY  313 

In  1837  the  Board  made  a  grant  to  Rev.  Dr.  Gutzlaff  in 
the  hope  that  Gospels  translated  into  Japanese  by  him  might 
carry  an  appeal  to  the  unknown  empire  of  Japan.  But 
the  first  words  from  America  heard  by  the  Japanese  were 
the  English  words  of  the  hymn,  ''  Before  Jehovah's  awful 
throne  ye  nations  bow  with  holy  joy.'*  The  Japanese  could 
not  understand  these  words,  but  they  were  mightily  aston- 
ished at  the  music  of  the  band  upon  the  deck  of  Commo- 
dore Perry's  flagship  as  it  led  with  the  tune  of  "  Old  Hun- 
dred "  the  singing  of  a  thousand  manly  voices  engaged  in 
divine  worship  on  a  Sunday  morning  in  July,  1853. 

Fully  six  years  passed  after  Perry's  first  visit  to  Japan  be- 
fore the  treaty  with  the  United  States  was  ratified.  Then 
only  could  foreigners  venture  to  live  in  Japan.  The  ob- 
jection of  the  old  feudal  system  to  any  breaking  down  of 
the  wall  of  exclusiveness  was  like  the  objection  of  a  bat  to 
the  rays  of  the  sun.  Happily  some  Japanese  preferred  the 
sun.  In  1859  the  first  American  Missionaries  went  to 
Japan;  Rev.  Mr.  Liggins  and  Rev.  Mr.  Williams  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  Rev.  Mr.  Verbeck  of  the  Re- 
formed (Dutch)  Church  and  Dr.  Hepburn  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  These  men  were  instantly  confronted  with 
the  need  of  Bibles  for  the  missions.  There  was  no  Bible  in 
Japanese.  Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams,  the  Chinese  scholar,  and 
Dr.  Gutzlaff,  the  learned  free  lance  of  China  missions,  had 
long  ago  attempted  something  in  the  way  of  translations  into 
Japanese;  and  later  Rev.  Dr.  Bettelheim,  a  converted  He- 
brew from  Hungary,  who  had  been  sent  by  British  naval  of- 
ficers as  missionary  to  the  Lu  Chu  Islands,  had  translated 
portions  of  Scripture  which  had  been  printed  by  the  So- 
ciety for  the  Promotion  of  Christian  Knowledge.  Other- 
wise no  word  of  Scripture  existed  in  Japanese.  Application 
was  made  at  once  to  the  Society  for  aid. 

So  far  as  the  Board  was  concerned,  this  newly  opened 
empire  was  little  more  than  a  name  in  the  year  i860.  In 
June  of  that  year  the  Board  invited  the  Japanese  ambassa- 
dors making  a  tour  of  the  Western  nations  to  visit  the  Bible 
House.  The  ambassadors  came ;  went  over  the  whole  build- 
ing ;  minutely  inspected  the  machinery  for  printing  and  bind- 
ing; were  especially  amazed  by  the  hydraulic  presses  used 


314  PEOPLES  WHO  KNOW  NOT  [1861- 

to  smooth  the  printed  sheets,  and  went  away  dehghted  with 
the  Society  and  its  wonderful  works.  The  visit  of  the 
Japanese  Embassy  put  Japan  on  the  map  of  the  Society, 
although  the  name  was  still  followed  by  a  question  mark. 

In  the  same  year  Rev.  Dr.  B.  J.  Bettelheim,  who  had  re- 
turned from  the  Lu  Chu  Islands  and  established  himself  in 
the  state  of  Illinois,  offered  to  give  the  Society  his  transla- 
tion of  parts  of  the  Bible,  assuring  the  Board  that  all  Japa- 
nese scholars  would  testify  to  the  high  quality  of  the  lan- 
guage used.  The  Dutch  interpreter  of  the  Japanese  Em- 
bassy, said  that  the  ambassadors  thought  educated  people  in 
Japan  might  discover  the  meaning  of  Dr.  Bettelheim's  trans- 
lation, but  that  the  masses  could  not  understand  it  at  all. 
Meanwhile  Dr.  Hepburn  at  Yokohama  advised  on  general 
principles  that  if  Dr.  Bettelheim's  manuscript  could  be  had 
for  any  reasonable  sum,  it  might  help  other  Bible  trans- 
lators. After  consideration,  however,  the  Board  decided 
not  to  accept  Dr.  Bettelheim's  offer. 

In  view  of  the  phenomenon  of  a  knowledge  of  the  Dutch 
language  by  many  Japanese,  the  Board  in  1861  sent  a  supply 
of  Holland  Bibles  to  be  distributed  among  those  Japanese 
who  had  been  in  trade  with  the  Hollanders  living  on  the 
little  island  in  front  of  Nagasaki  which  had  been  a  trade 
mart  of  the  Dutch  during  some  two  hundred  years.  Taking 
these  Scriptures  to  the  Japanese  was  at  best  a  forlorn  hope, 
since  the  strictly  commercial  vocabulary  of  Dutch  which 
was  used  at  Nagasaki  could  hardly  throw  light  on  theological 
terms.  But  in  this  urgent  case  more  than  one  order  for 
these  Scriptures  came  from  the  missions  in  Japan.  Since 
all  educated  Japanese  could  read  Chinese,  the  missionaries 
also  ordered  Scriptures  in  that  language.  In  their  hope  that 
the  Bible  might  speak  to  the  Japanese  before  they  themselves 
coukl,  like  the  ancient  alchemists,  they  cast  various  ma- 
terials into  the  crucible  and  watched  to  see  if  base  metal 
was  transmuted  into  gold. 

The  Society  placed  in  the  hands  of  missionaries  of  dif- 
ferent denominations  in  Japan  during  the  period  from  1861 
to  1 87 1,  $4,800  for  use  in  translation  of  the  Bible,  and  for 
purchase  of  Chinese  Scriptures.  It  also  sent  out  1200 
volumes   of    Dutch   and   of   English    Scriptures    for   direct 


^         -jmi.lipil-HI^— pilK- '       .  MR 

F^^HHil 

^ 

1 

IM    \l  k~:d^lB 

^f'l 

11 

nil 

1^ 

3^     ID92. 

J^    Si. 

W 

1871]  JAPANESE  EXCLUSIVENESS  315 

distribution.  The  money  granted  for  translation  was  used 
for  supporting  the  Japanese  assistants.  The  formal  begin- 
ning of  Bible  translation  in  Japanese  was  about  1865,  and 
by  the  year  1866  the  missions  had  agreed  to  organise  for 
Bible  translation  a  select  committee  so  that  there  might  be 
for  all  but  one  Japanese  version. 

During  this  preliminary  work  the  people  showed  interest 
in  the  Bibles  offered  by  the  Americans.  The  nation  had 
been  awakened  by  cannon.  A  considerable  number  of  the 
people  were  eagerly  asking  how  they,  too,  could  get  such 
cannon.  But  some  of  them  actually  found  food  for  hungry 
souls  in  the  American  book.  People  who  read  the  Bible  for 
the  first  time  enjoy  the  vividness  of  a  first  impression ;  the 
new  thought  remains  a  topic  of  meditation.  We  to  whom 
the  ideas  in  general  are  old,  often  fail  in  meditation  be- 
cause we  think  we  know  the  truths  taught  by  the  Bible. 
The  importance  of  the  fresh  first  impression  had  not  oc- 
curred to  Abbe  Hue  when  he  sneeringly  inquired  if  Protes- 
tant missionaries  thought  they  would  convert  China  by  plac- 
ing a  few  Bibles  on  its  shores.  At  all  events  it  does  not 
seem  to  have  occurred  to  him  that  the  spirit  of  God  is  able 
to  use  His  own  word.  By  the  time,  in  1868,  that  the  Gospel 
of  Matthew  was  ready  for  the  press,  the  missionaries  had 
already  been  rejoiced  by  learning  that  a  young  man  in  prison 
had  been  converted  through  Bible  study  recommended  by  a 
Chinese  teacher.  In  that  same  year  two  Japanese  of  educa- 
tion and  rank  were  baptised,  having  found  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ  through  copies  of  the  Bible  in  Chinese  sent  out  at  a 
venture  from  mission  stations.  The  faith  of  the  mission- 
aries was  justified.  The  rock  had  in  it  a  soft  spot  that 
having  once  been  reached  by  the  elements,  all  external  things 
began  to  work  together  to  reduce  the  granite  to  powder. 

For  Africa  the  first  serious  work  taken  up  by  the  Society 
was  aid  to  the  Gaboon  Mission  of  the  American  Board,  and 
to  the  Cape  Palmas  Mission  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church.  African  tribes  had  neither  writing  nor  alphabet. 
Hence  distribution  of  Scriptures  must  wait  upon  mission 
schools.  In  1870  the  entire  New  Testament  in  Mpongwe 
was  printed  at  the  mission  press  on  the  Gaboon  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  Society.     Grants  of  Scripture  portions  were 


3i6  PEOPLES  WHO  KNOW  NOT  [1861- 

made  from  the  stock  in  New  York,  and  curiously  enough 
some  copies  in  Arabic  were  called  for  to  be  read  by  the  Mo- 
hammedan negroes  engaged  in  trade  in  all  that  region.  On 
the  eastern  side  of  the  African  continent  the  American 
lioard's  Missionaries  in  Natal  were  translating  the  Bible. 
The  book  of  Genesis  in  Zulu  was  printed  in  Natal  at  the  ex- 
])ense  of  the  Society,  together  with  several  additional  por- 
tions of  the  Old  Testament.  By  such  slow  stages  the  So- 
ciety pi>rsued  its  path  of  help  to  American  missions  in  what 
was  then  almost  literally  the  unknown  continent. 

Beyond  the  confines  of  Christendom  the  only  lands  in 
which  the  Society  at  this  time  had  an  agency  were  in  the 
region  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean  known  as 
the  Levant.  Rev.  Dr.  L  G.  Bliss,  the  Agent,  wrote  with 
fluent  optimism  o-f  successes  in  Bible  distribution.  There 
was  opposition  from  some  of  the  Greek  and  Armenian 
clergy,  and  many  ingenious  devices  of  obstruction  were  used 
by  the  Turkish  authorities,  but  the  Bible  made  its  way  among 
tlie  people  so  rapidly  that  in  1870  the  Society  had  no  more 
promising  field  abroad.  In  that  region,  where  no  inherited 
conviction  of  Christian  truth  gives  support  to  Bible  work, 
there  were  fifty  principal  Bible  depositories  of  the  Society 
with  175  branch  depots.  These  depositories  were  found  in 
European  Turkey,  in  Greece,  in  the  storied  islands  of  the 
/Ec^can  Sea,  on  the  shores  of  the  Dardanelles,  in  the  old 
Roman  provinces  of  Asia,  in  Syria  and  Mesopotamia,  on 
tlie  banks  of  the  Nile  and  in  the  Empire  of  Persia  —  wher- 
ever there  were  American  missionaries.  Forty  colporteurs 
and  six  Bible  women  were  engaged  in  distributing  Scrip- 
tures. 

In  Persia  a  colporteur  exploring  the  country  went  through 
Ilamadan,  the  city  of  Esther  and  Haman,  as  far  as  Ispahan, 
and  came  back  delighted  with  the  reception  given  to  him 
and  his  books.  In  Egypt,  Rev.  Dr.  Lansing  took  a  colpor- 
teur to  a  great  fair  at  Mansoura.  The  Patriarch  of  the 
Coptic  Church  was  at  the  fair  and  his  presence  was  dreaded 
by  the  men  of  the  Book.  The  tactful  colporteur,  however, 
went  straight  to  the  Patriarch  asking  if  he  had  forbidden  the 
people  to  buy  Bibles.  *'  Oh,  no,"  said  the  Patriarch,  ''  God 
forbid  that  I  should  do  such  a  thing !  "     The  colporteur  then 


1871]    FREEWILL  OFFERINGS  OF  A  NATION    317 

suggested  that  he  might  buy  one  himself.  The  great  pre- 
late bought,  and  the  whole  stock  of  Bibles  was  quickly  taken 
up.  Mohammedans  in  different  parts  of  Turkey  bought 
Bibles  or  Testaments  and  one  expressed  the  feeling  of  many 
when  he  said :  ''  This  is  the  best  and  the  holiest  book  I  ever 
saw ;  it  cannot  do  me  harm."  It  must  not  be  supposed  from 
these  incidents  that  the  work  of  the  colporteur  comports  with 
ease.  Such  labour  requires  too  great  self-denial  for  any 
but  the  most  devoted  Christians.  The  incidents  of  this 
period,  however,  justified  belief  that  every  Bible  or  Testa- 
ment sold  kindles  a  light  which  cannot  be  extinguished. 

Rev.  Dr.  Bliss  returned  to  the  United  States  on  furlough 
in  1865,  with  a  plan,  elaborated  lovingly  in  detail,  for  a 
Bible  House  in  the  heart  of  Constantinople.  As  a  centre  of 
all  forms  of  evangelism  such  a  building  would  send  out  light 
to  every  part  of  the  Levant.  The  Board  could  not  consent 
to  use  funds  of  the  Society  for  the  purpose ;  but  it  authorised 
Dr.  Bliss  to  raise  money  by  special  subscription,  letting  it  be 
understood  that  the  Society  took  no  responsibility  in  the 
matter.  Dr.  Bliss  presented  his  case  with  such  contagious 
zeal  in  different  parts  of  the  United  States  that  he  succeeded 
in  raising  about  $60,000  for  the  construction  of  the  Bible 
House  and  returned  to  Constantinople  with  a  glad  heart. 

During  the  period  from  1861  to  1871  the  cost  to  the  So- 
ciety of  supplying  Scriptures  in  the  languages  of  this  great 
Agency  amounted  to  $230,951.  Including  this  amount  the 
expenditure  during  this  period  in  non-Christian  lands  whose 
people  had  erected  their  various  civilisations  in  ignorance  of 
the  Bible  and  of  its  existence  was  $411,385.  This  great 
sum  represented  a  part  of  the  cost  to  American  Christians 
of  their  obedience  to  their  Lord,  of  their  compassion  for 
men  who  grope  in  spiritual  and  ethical  uncertainties,  and  of 
their  conviction  that  the  Bible  makes  men  and  makes  na- 
tions. It  represented  the  worship  by  free-will  offerings  of 
many  thousands  of  our  people ;  and  by  every  token  the  gift 
had  found  favour  with  God. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 

THE   JUBILEE   CELEBRATION    OF    1866 

In  May,  1865,  the  Society  entered  its  fiftieth  year  of  serv- 
ice. At  the  same  time  a  new  era  dawned  in  the  United 
States  with  the  end  of  civil  war.  The  rattle  of  small  arms 
and  thunder  of  cannon  were  stilled.  The  passions  of  those 
who  fought  passed  away  like  bad  dreams.  The  great  armies 
dispersed.  Long  separated  families  were  reunited.  Of- 
ficers and  soldiers  packed  up  their  regimental  trappings  and 
returned  to  their  ordinary  occupations.  Throughout  the 
land  useful  production  gradually  displaced  waste  and  de- 
struction. There  was  a  general  revulsion  of  feeling  from 
distress  and  anxiety  to  thanksgiving  and  joy.  The  Bible 
Society,  also,  had  special  occasion  for  joy  as  it  entered  its 
fiftieth  year.  It  could  look  back  upon  a  half  century  of 
struggle  and  often  of  anxiety,  cheered,  however,  by  con- 
stant gains  of  strength  through  the  support  and  leadership 
of  its  Master.  To  the  Board  it  seemed  a  happy  and  provi- 
dential coincidence  that  the  beginning  of  so  notable  a  year 
of  its  history  should  be  associated  with  the  beginning  of  a 
new  order  of  things  in  the  history  of  the  republic.  For  this 
the  Managers  offered  humble  and  hearty  thanksgiving  to 
God. 

At  its  regular  meeting,  May  4,  1865,  the  Board  appointed 
the  current  year  to  be  observed  as  a  Jubilee,  delegating  to  the 
Anniversaries  Committee  all  necessary  arrangements.  The 
Committee  appealed  to  all  the  churches  in  the  country,  to 
observe  the  Jubilee  year  by  special  services,  and  invited  the 
Auxiliaries  to  change  each  regular  annual  meeting  into  a 
little  Jubilee  meeting  that  would  commemorate  the  increased 
circulation  of  the  ]^)ible  as  well  as  the  multiplied  evidences  of 
its  power.  The  Committee  also  suggested  four  particular 
objects  which  might  be  undertaken  by  the  Society  as  appro- 
Ijriatc  to  a  year  of   praise   and   thanksgiving:     First,   the 

318 


1866-1871]     A  YEAR  OF  COMMEMORATION       319 

supply  of  destitution  in  the  South ;  second,  a  general  supply 
of  the  needy  throughout  the  home  land ;  third,  the  electro- 
typing  of  the  Arabic  Bible,  and  fourth,  the  issue  of  the  re- 
vised Spanish  Bible.  There  would  be  no  general  call  for 
special  contributions,  but  AuxiHary  Societies  might  well 
take  up  one  or  more  of  these  objects  and  do  what  they  found 
possible  to  make  it  a  success. 

The  appeal  sent  out  by  the  Committee  was  written  by  the 
Rev.  William  Adams,  D.D.,  and  rang  out  clear  and  pene- 
trating like  the  old  Hebrew  trumpet  call  at  the  beginning  of 
each  Jubilee  year.  Dr.  Adams  pointed  out  how  the  Society 
had  surpassed  the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  its 
founders,  receiving  the  cordial  confidence  and  support  of 
the  entire  country ;  multiplying  its  AuxiHaries  in  all  parts  of 
the  land ;  sending  out  millions  of  copies  of  Scriptures  in  all 
directions  which,  like  those  placed  in  the  army  during  the 
war,  could  be  reckoned  as  seed  cast  on  a  subsiding  flood,  and 
destined  to  reappear  with  blessed  results  in  future  growth. 
He  noted  the  changes  since  the  organisation  of  the  Society 
throughout  the  world,  in  sentiment,  in  forms  of  government, 
and  in  religious  devotion  to  God  with  a  new  regard  for  the 
Bible;  and  he  called  upon  all  the  people  to  expect  quick 
progress  of  the  Kingdom,  like  a  tree  long  in  growth,  which 
after  maturity,  in  one  season  blossoms  out  and  bears  abun- 
dant fruit. 

Responses  to  these  appeals  came  from  all  parts  of  the 
land.  Auxiliaries  and  ecclesiastical  bodies  heartily  pledging 
action  in  the  line  proposed.  Congratulations  were  received 
from  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  the  Bible  So- 
ciety of  France,  and  other  Societies  in  Europe. 

The  Board  arranged  as  a  part  of  the  exercises  of  the 
fiftieth  year  a  series  of  sermons  by  eminent  clergymen  to  be 
delivered  in  the  first  instance  in  New  York  City.  The  first 
Jubilee  sermon,  on  the  "  Advantages  of  a  Written  Revela- 
tion," by  Rev.  William  Adams,  D.D.,  was  preached  October 
15,  1865;  the  second  by  Rev.  Dr.  Vermilye,  November  19, 
on  the  ''  Purity  of  the  Bible  " ;  the  third  by  Rev.  Dr.  Charles 
Hodge  of  Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  January  21, 
1866,  on  the  ''  Inspiration  of  the  Bible  " ;  the  fourth,  Feb- 
ruary 18,  1866,  by  President  J.  W.  Cummings  of  Wesleyan 


320  THE  JUBILEE  CELEBRATION  [1861- 

University  on  *'  The  Bible  and  Civil  Government  " ;  the  fifth 
by  Rev.  R.  S.  Storrs,  D.D.,  Jr.,  March  i8th,  on  ''  The  Bible 
the  Book  of  Mankind  " ;  the  sixth  by  Rev.  Dr.  W.  R.  Wil- 
hams  of  the  Baptist  Church,  April  15,  on  "  What  the  Bible 
has  done  for  the  World  during  the  Last  Century  " ;  the  sev- 
enth by  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  Vinton,  April  22,  on  "  The  Hu- 
mane in  the  Bible  " ;  and  the  eighth  by  the  Rev.  Isaac  Fer- 
ris, D.D.,  LL.D.,  Chancellor  of  the  University  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  May  6th,  on  the  "  History  of  the  American 
Bible  Society." 

These  sermons  were  listened  to  by  large  and  interested 
audiences;  several  of  them  being  repeated  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  at  Washington,  and  the  most  of  them  in 
Philadelphia,  Boston,  Cincinnati,  and  other  cities.  Taken 
together  they  constituted  a  powerful  agency  to  turn  the 
thoughts  of  the  people  to  the  Bible  and  the  memorial  cele- 
bration which  would  reach  its  climax  on  the  fiftieth  Anni- 
versary of  the  day  on  which  the  Society  was  organised. 

That  anniversary  day  was  Thursday,  the  loth  of  May, 
1866.  The  Board  of  Managers  met  as  usual  at  the  Bible 
House,  where  they  welcomed  as  representatives  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  the  Rev.  Thomas  Phil- 
lips, senior  District  Secretary,  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  Nolan 
of  St.  Peter's  Church,  Regent  Square,  London ;  of  the 
Bible  Society  of  France  the  Rev.  Caesar  Pascal ;  of  the  Bible 
Society  of  Upper  Canada,  the  Rev.  Lachlin  Taylor,  D.D., 
and  Rev.  William  Ormiston,  D.D.  Besides  these  men  from 
other  Bible  Societies,  representatives  were  present  of  twenty- 
nine  Auxiliary  Societies  from  Massachusetts  to  California. 
After  transaction  of  the  formal  business  of  an  Annual  Meet- 
ing, the  Society  with  its  guests  adjourned  to  the  Academy 
of  Music  where  the  celebration  of  the  fiftieth  Anniversary 
took  place,  President  Lenox  taking  the  Chair  at  ten  o'clock'. 

The  platform  was  filled  with  an  assemblage  of  eminent 
and  venerable  men  such  as  are  not  often  brought  together. 
The  Bil)le  Society  Record  in  describing  the  meeting,  said: 
"  Rarely  have  we  seen  so  large  an  audience  equally  inter- 
ested, patient,  and  deeply  affected  with  the  spirit  of  the 
occasion." 

A  very   interesting   feature   of  the   Jubilee  Anniversary 


1871]  REV.  DR.  SPRING  HONORED  321 

was  the  presence  on  the  platform  of  the  Rev.- Dr.  Gardiner 
Spring,  who  briefly  addressed  the  meeting.  As  the  young- 
est of  the  founders  of  the  Society  in  1816  and  one  of  the 
three  surviving  members  of  the  Convention,  he  presented 
to  the  meeting,  after  giving  thanks  to  God  for  the  expe- 
riences of  his  own  Hfe,  the  single  thought,  "  It  is  my  earnest 
desire  that  the  God  of  the  Bible  shall  be  honoured  in  your 
future  career  as  He  has  been  in  some  measure  in  the  past." 

Immediately  following  the  words  of  Dr.  Spring,  Bishop 
C.  P.  M'llvaine  of  Ohio  arose,  giving  as  an  excuse  for  his 
doing  so  that,  while  he  was  too  young  in  1816  to  be  present 
at  the  organisation  of  the  Society,  he  remembered  his  im- 
pressions as  a  boy  on  seeing  Dr.  Boudinot  and  some  of  the 
delegates;  and  how  later,  in  college,  he  was  moved  by  an 
address  by  Dr.  Spring.  He  added  that  he  felt  unable 
passively  to  hear  the  words,  perhaps  the  farewell  words,  ad- 
dressed to  the  Society  by  this  venerable  father,  and  there- 
fore he  requested  that  the  audience  rise  in  testimony  of  re- 
spect to  Dr.  Spring.  Immediately  the  vast  audience  rose 
and  remained  standing  for  some  time  in  silence  and  in 
tears. 

Among  the  addresses  at  the  Jubilee  Anniversary  we  can 
only  mention  a  few.  Rev.  Thomas  Phillips,  of  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  pointed  out  that  a  Jubilee  is  an 
opportunity  which  may  occur  only  once  in  a  lifetime  to  re- 
view the  past  and  stimulate  new  zeal  for  the  future.  He 
rapidly  described  the  Jubilee  of  the  British  and  Foreign  So- 
ciety in  1854  as  a  time  for  thanksgiving,  a  time  for  reas- 
serting the  nature  and  source  of  the  Bible,  and  a  time  for 
urging  Bible  lovers  to  become  Bible  givers.  He  brought 
to  the  American  Bible  Society  the  salutations  of  the  older 
Society,  gracefully  suggesting  that  she  had  been  in  the  habit 
of  considering  herself  a  parent  to  the  American  Society,  but 
now  that  the  younger  Society  had  attained  to  the  respect- 
able age  of  fifty,  he  would  salute  her  as  a  sister  and  heartily 
thank  God  for  her  work  in  the  world.  The  Rev.  Thomas 
Nolan  emphasised  the  fostering  care  of  God  shown  in  the 
history  of  the  Bible  Societies.  The  stereotype  process  was 
invented  just  a  short  time  before  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  was  organised  and  required  a  method  of  quick 


322  THE  JUBILEE  CELEBRATION  [1861- 

multiplication  of  Bibles.  Again  the  Society  with  the  appH- 
ances  for  printing  available  at  the  mission  presses  in  Beirut 
and  Smyrna  working  full  speed,  would  have  required  6,000 
years  to  print  a  supply  of  Arabic  Bibles  for  the  120,000,000 
w  ho  ought  to  have  them.  But  shortly  before  the  need  arose 
the  invention  of  electrotyping  solved  the  difficulty.  Mr. 
Xolan  thanked  the  Society  for  the  gift  to  the  British  So- 
ciety of  a  set  of  Arabic  plates  of  the  Bible,  and  rejoiced  that 
both  Societies  had  fostered  the  Christian  feeling  expressed 
by  Lord  Bexley :  "If  we  cannot  reconcile  all  opinions,  let 
us  try  to  unite  all  hearts." 

The  Rev.  Caesar  Pascal,  representative  of  the  French 
Bible  Society,  followed  up  this  topic  of  the  favour  of  God 
shown  to  the  Bible  Society  by  remarking  what  an  amazing 
thing  it  seemed  to  friends  in  Paris  that  the  American  Society 
in  the  midst  of  the  war,  with  a  financial  crisis  pressing  and 
a  national  debt  computed  by  the  thousand  millions,  could 
still  increase  its  operations  and  enlarge  by  many  thousands 
its  circulation  of  Scriptures.  In  expressing  the  warm  re- 
gard of  the  French  Society  he  added  that  it  is  the  Bible 
which  gives  the  United  States  its  prominent  place  in  the 
world,  and  makes  the  destiny  of  the  United  States  rest 
under  God  to  a  great  extent  with  Societies  like  this. 

Major-General  O.  O.  Howard  of  the  United  States  Army, 
who  one  year  before  on  that  day  was  still  commanding  the 
right  wing  of  General  Sherman's  army  in  North  Carolina, 
made  a  warm  appeal  for  attention  to  the  needs  of  the 
South,  and  especially  of  the  poor  whites  and  the  freed 
slaves. 

There  were  also  strong  addresses  on  the  Bible  in  action. 
Rev.  Dr.  Rufus  Anderson,  Secretary  of  the  American 
l^oard,  pointed  out  that  the  American  Bible  Society  in  fifty 
years  had  spent  about  $800,000  for  printing  and  distributing 
Bibles  in  foreign  lands  and  chiefly  in  pagan  countries.  He 
said  that  more  Bibles  had  thus  been  distributed  outside  of 
Christendom  since  the  Bible  Society  era  than  were  in  all 
the  world  from  Moses  to  the  Reformation.  By  trying  to 
form  some  impression  of  the  vastness  of  the  influence  of 
this  distribution,  it  is  possible  to  see  how  essential  the  Bible 
is  to  the  missionary. 


i87i]  THE  GAINS  OF  FIFTY  YEARS  323 

Rev.  I.  G.  Bliss,  Agent  of  the  Society  in  the  Levant,  hav- 
ing to  watch  over  an  area  of  1,200,000  square  miles,  made  a 
strong  appeal  for  adequate  support.  In  the  eight  years  of 
his  service  the  proceeds  of  books  sold  in  his  Agency 
amounted  to  $22,000.  This  sum  had  been  paid  by  the  poor ; 
the  books  for  the  most  part  being  sold  for  only  one-third 
of  their  cost. 

Rev.  Dr.  Jonas  King  of  the  American  Board's  Mission  in 
Athens,  Greece,  who  had  received  during  forty  years  grants 
for  Greek  Scriptures,  emphasised  the  truth  that  missionary 
work  shows  the  Bible  to  be  the  centre  of  the  moral  world  as 
the  sun  is  the  centre  of  the  physical  world. 

The  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop  of  Massachusetts,  the 
statesman  and  orator  who  followed  Daniel  Webster  in  the 
United  States  Senate,  invited  his  hearers  to  think  of  the  in- 
fluence of  the  21,000,000  volumes  of  Scripture  sent  out  by 
the  Society  during  these  fifty  years.  They  have  gone  to 
people  who  were  without  them,  and  it  were  better  to  endure 
war  or  pestilence  or  any  other  variety  of  famine  than  a 
famine  of  the  word  of  God.  "The  influence  of  these 
Bibles,"  he  said,  "  has  nothing  to  approach  it  in  importance 
in  all  the  boasted  achievements  of  mankind."  And  then  he 
appealed  to  the  people  to  reflect  that  ''  if  the  Bible  stands 
alone,  in  measureless  superiority,  in  peerless  pre-eminence, 
so  have  Societies  devoted  to  its  publication  a  paramount 
claim  upon  the  support,  the  sympathy  and  the  co-operation 
of  all  Christians." 

The  addresses  were  eloquent  and  in  some  passages  very 
impressive.  For  full  five  hours  the  large  audience  kept  up 
its  interest.  Then  President  Mark  Hopkins  of  Williams 
College,  pronounced  the  benediction,  and  the  assembly  dis- 
solved, with  hearty  good  wishes  for  the  future  of  the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society. 

That  passage  of  Mr.  Winthrop's  appeal  was  needed  which 
reminded  his  audience  that  Societies  devoted  to  Bible  circu- 
lation have  a  paramount  claim  upon  the  support  of  all 
Christians.  A  great  number  of  new  schemes  of  benevolence 
had  sprung  up  during  the  war  period.  The  Agents  of  the 
Society  and  its  Auxiliaries  reported  strenuous  efforts  being 
made  throughout  the  country  to  raise  money  for  colleges, 


324  THE  JUBILEE  CELEBRATION  [1861- 

theological  seminaries,  denominational  extension  schemes, 
endowment  of  hospitals,  homes  for  disabled  soldiers  and 
sailors,  and  similar  institutions  throughout  the  South  as  well 
as  schemes  for  the  education  and  uplift  of  freedmen.  The 
difficulty  of  maintaining  interest  in  the  Bible  Society  work 
was  felt  very  strongly  in  cities.  Churches  absorbed  in 
purely  denominational  work  were  very  glad  to  have  supplies 
of  Scriptures  from  the  Bible  Society,  but  did  not  feel  under 
special  obligations  toward  it  since  it  was  an  undenomina- 
tional institution.  In  the  cities  there  was  more  and  more 
(Hfficulty  in  finding  churches  willing  to  put  the  pulpit,  even 
for  a  single  Sunday  in  the  year,  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Society. 

In  this  careless  attitude  toward  the  support  of  the  So- 
ciety people  forgot  that  their  missions,  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  were  receiving  large  sums  in  aid  of  their  work  from 
the  Society ;  that  the  churches  in  the  days  when  missions 
were  young  had  urged  the  Society  to  take  up  work  in  Tur- 
key, China,  Japan,  and  other  countries.  The  Society  had 
become  involved  in  and  attached  to  this  work ;  the  churches 
should  not  lose  their  interest,  lest  they  be  classed  with  cer- 
tain unthrifty  farmers  who  will  set  out  acres  of  choice 
peach  trees  and  then  leave  them  to  the  borers  and  the  weeds. 
The  people  forgot,  too,  that  if  the  Bible  Society  were  left 
to  go  to  pieces  for  want  of  support,  they  themselves  would 
be  the  first  to  suffer  from  such  a  catastrophe. 

It  was  with  pleasure,  therefore,  that  the  Board  learned 
that  many  stimulating  sermons  on  the  Bible  and  the  claims 
of  support  for  its  circulation  had  been  delivered  at  this 
time  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  Here  we  can  give 
space  to  a  brief  mention  only  of  the  charge  of  Bishop  East- 
burn  of  Massachusetts  to  the  clergy  of  the  diocese.  The 
subject  of  this  document,  issued  May  2,  1866,  was  "  The 
Piihle  Society's  Jubilee  Year."  The  paper  reviewed  the 
liistory  of  the  formation  of  the  Society  which  was  within 
liis  own  memory.  It  then,  in  eloquent  terms,  pointed  out 
"  what  a  distinct  assertion  this  great  institution  is  every  day 
making  in  the  face  of  the  whole  country  of  the  inspiration 
and  divine  authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures."     On  this  ac- 


1871]      NEW  INSPIRATION  FOR  SOCIETY         325 

count  prayer  and  labour  is  due,  he  said,  for  the  continued 
prosperity  of  the  work  of  the  Society. 

A  time  of  transition  is  always  one  which  sifts  aims  and 
motives.  The  period  of  the  Civil  War  was  to  the  Bible  So- 
ciety such  a  period  of  sifting.  Such  experiences  as  have 
been  noted  during  the  period  of  the  war  developed  in  the 
Society  inspiration  to  undertake  and  vigour  to  execute. 
From  these  experiences,  hard  and  wearing  as  they  were, 
the  Bible  Society  had  occasion  to  rejoice  with  thanksgiving 
as  it  came  forth,  entering  upon  its  second  half  century  as  a 
new,  well-equipped  body  assured  of  success,  through  divine 
guidance,  in  all  the  undertakings  of  its  destiny. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

FORGET   NOT   ALL   HIS   BENEFITS 

A  PROVERB  of  the  Zulus  in  South  Africa  says,  *'  You  can 
count  the  apples  on  one  tree,  but  you  cannot  count  the  trees 
in  one  apple."  It  is  a  breezy  thrust  at  him  who  knows  too 
much,  and  a  quiet  hint  that  attention  may  yield  profit  as 
well  as  interest. 

In  the  fifty  years  whose  close  was  celebrated  with  thanks- 
giving in  May,  1866,  the  Society  received  $10,434,953.74. 
Aside  from  the  proceeds  of  sales  of  books  at  or  below  cost, 
important  sources  of  the  receipts  were : 

Donations     from    Churches,    Societies 

and  Individuals, $1,500,470 

Donations  from  Auxiliaries  ....  1,386,146 
Donations  from  Legacies  ....  1,145,149 
These  large  sums,  like  the  apples  on  the  Zulus'  tree,  are  ob- 
vious and  important  facts  of  the  Society's  arduous  labours 
during  half  a  century.  But  many  important  details  of  the 
present,  the  future,  and  the  permanent  usefulness  of  the  So- 
ciety can  only  be  observed  by  a  closer  examination  of  the  re- 
lations of  past  events. 

In  such  a  retrospect  one  is  particularly  struck  with  the 
enormous  additions  to  the  home  field  of  the  Society  since 
the  close  of  the  first  quarter  century  of  its  history.  Texas 
was  then  a  foreign  country;  California,  which  included  a 
vast  expanse  of  territory  to  the  eastward  of  the  present 
limits  of  the  state,  then  belonged  to  Mexico;  and  in  the 
northwest  the  great  undefined  region  known  as  "  Oregon  " 
was  of  uncertain  ownership,  being  occupied  by  British  as 
well  as  American  hunters  and  explorers.  All  of  these  vast 
regions  at  the  end  of  another  twenty-five  y^ars  were  in- 
cluded in  the  United  States.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of 
immigrants  had  come  into  the  country  and  were  fast  settling 
the  lands  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Willing  or  not  willing, 
the  Society  had  been  irresistibly  driven  to  attempt  the  supply 

326 


1861-1871]       CHRISTIAN  SOLICITUDE  327 

of  the  great,  needy  populations  thus  placed  within  its  reach. 

The  temporary  rending  of  the  Union  by  the  Civil  War 
with  the  severing  of  relations  with  the  Southern  Auxiliary 
Societies,  and  with  the  immense  demand  upon  the  Society 
for  the  supply  of  the  army  and  the  destitute  South  seemed 
to  have  nothing  but  strain  and  pain  for  the  Board  of  Man- 
agers and  the  Executive  officers.  In  after-thought,  how- 
ever, none  could  but  see  a  providence  in  the  building  of  the 
Bible  House  at  Astor  Place,  without  which  the  Board  would 
have  been  helpless  in  this  emergency.  All  saw,  too,  that 
through  this  terrible  stress  of  supply,  the  ties  uniting  as- 
sociates in  the  Bible  House,  the  bonds  holding  together  the 
Auxiliaries  all  over  the  country,  yes  —  and  those  linking  the 
Society  with  brethren  of  the  Southern  States,  were  more 
firmly  knit;  very  much  as  the  fellowship  of  a  fierce  cam- 
paign binds  members  of  the  same  regiment  to  one  another 
almost  as  members  of  one  family. 

Engrossing  anxieties  in  the  home  field  had  not  hindered 
the  expansion  of  the  Society's  fields  abroad.  Those  fields 
had  increased  to  a  degree  never  imagined,  in  most  sanguine 
moments,  by  the  executive  officers  of  the  first  twenty-five 
years.  Europe,  France,  Germany,  Russia  and  even  Italy, 
had  received  thousands  of  volumes  of  Scriptures  through 
the  solicitude  of  the  men  who  looked  upon  the  world  from 
the  windows  of  the  Bible  House.  Bible  Society  colpor- 
teurs were  ranging  over  the  Turkish  Empire  from  the 
Danube  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  distributing  Scriptures  in  lan- 
guages which,  like  Bulgarian  for  instance,  had  not  been 
heard  of  in  New  York  during  the  first  quarter  century  of 
the  Society's  existence.  In  China  the  Bible  was  being 
printed  for  the  Society  in  at  least  six  different  dialects  and 
American  funds  were  joined  with  those  of  the  two  British 
Bible  Societies  to  secure  the  preparation  of  a  truly  union 
version  of  the  classical  Chinese.  Japan  had  come  to  light. 
Japanese  Ambassadors  had  inspected  and  praised  the  Bible 
House  in  New  York.  Copies  of  the  Scriptures  in  Dutch 
and  in  Chinese  had  been  disseminated  for  the  Society  in 
Japan,  turning  a  chosen  few  men  to  Christianity;  and  a 
Committee  of  scholarly  missionaries  were  preparing  for  a 
Japanese  version  of  the  New  Testament. 


328         FORGET  NOT  ALL  HIS  BENEFITS     [1861- 

American  ^Missionaries  in  Mexico,  Central  America,  in 
both  Spanish  and  Portuguese  South  America  were  dis- 
pensing to  eager  inquirers  Scriptures  provided  by  the  So- 
ciety. From  India  and  even  from  Africa  missionaries  were 
calhng  for  additional  grants  to  reach  multitudes  that  might 
now  be  won  to  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ.  Missionary 
ships  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  were  carrying  Bibles  printed  by 
the  Society  to  numbers  of  the  little  Micronesian  Islands  and 
bringing  back  word  of  the  wonderful  influence  of  the  word 
of  God  upon  the  people.  This  was  not  the  fruit  of  well- 
planned  enterprise  on  the  part  of  the  Board.  All  that  its 
members  could  say  on  seeing  the  great  fields  inviting  them 
to  foreign  lands  was,  *'  What  hath  God  wrought !  " 

Expansion  in  the  foreign  field  cheered  the  members  of 
the  Board  by  bringing  them  into  touch  with  men  converted 
abroad,  and  helping  the  Bible  distribution  of  the  Society. 
Dr.  Bliss  of  the  Levant  Agency  described  in  1866  some  of 
his  colporteurs  working  in  the  city  of  Constantinople.  One 
was  a  Greek  —  tall,  sallow,  sorrowful,  and  taciturn,  who 
had  been  working  twelve  years  as  a  colporteur,  dealing 
largely  with  his  own  people,  the  Greeks ;  selling  many  books 
also  to  Mohammedans  until  the  government  interfered,  and 
selling  some  too,  to  Jews.  He  had  succeeded  in  inducing 
people  to  buy  about  8,000  volumes  of  Scripture.  Another 
was  a  thin,  nervous  Armenian  named  Avedis  who  went 
about  burdened  like  a  pack-horse,  with  a  basket  of  books 
hanging  from  his  shoulder  and  a  carpet-bag  full  of  books 
to  balance  it  in  front,  another  carpet-bag,  also  full  of  books, 
in  his  left  hand,  and  two  or  three  sample  New  Testaments 
in  his  right  hand.  When  any  one  raised  objections  to  buy- 
ing the  Scriptures,  Avedis  would  talk  the  caviller  into  buy- 
ing if  it  took  an  hour.  This  colporteur  had  a  mind  of  his 
own.  He  objected  strongly  to  selling  the  Ancient  Armenian 
Bible  because  in  his  view  that  unintelligible  language  has 
been  used  by  Satan  to  ruin  the  souls  of  multitudes  of  his 
fellow  countrymen.  Another  successful  colporteur  was  a 
bHnd  theological  student.  After  his  study  hours  he  would 
feel  his  way  carefully  along  the  street,  ofYering  Scriptures  to 
any  whose  attention  he  could  gain.  Taking  a  portion  of 
Bible  in  raised  letters  in  his  hand  and  reading  with  his  fin- 


1871]  MISSIONARY  TRANSLATIONS  329 

gers  passages  to  the  people  helped  him  to  dispose  of  his 
books  when  a  man  had  been  induced  to  open  a  Testament 
and  find  in  it  the  verses  which  the  blind  man  was  reading. 
Simple  minded  followers  of  Jesus  Christ  like  these,  in 
South  America,  in  the  United  States,  in  Europe  and  in  Asia 
had  been  doing  an  important  service  as  pioneers  who  open 
the  way  for  the  missionary. 

Of  the  manner  in  which  missionaries  opened  a  way  for 
the  Bible  Society  much  could  be  seen  in  the  important  lan- 
guages in  which  Scriptures  were  printed  during  this  period 
at  the  Bible  House.  Of  German  and  French  Scriptures 
large  editions  had  been  printed  almost  every  year  from  1817 
onward.  For  the  Jews  the  Old  Testament  in  English  was 
printed  without  chapter  headings,  running  title,  or  other 
accessories.  Among  the  Asiatic  languages,  besides  the 
Arabic  of  which  detailed  mention  is  given  below,  the  Mod- 
ern Armenian  Bible  and  the  New  Testament,  and  a  pocket 
Testament  in  Modern  Syriac  (the  colloquial  language  used 
by  the  Nestorians  of  Persia),  were  electrotyped  and  printed 
during  the  second  quarter  century. 

Among  the  languages  of  the  American  Indians  the  New 
Testament  in  Dakota,  translated  by  Riggs  and  William- 
son, missionaries  of  the  American  Board,  had  been  electro- 
typed  and  printed,  along  with  parts  of  the  Old  Testament 
in  the  same  language,  and  the  New  Testament  in  Cherokee. 
From  the  West  Indies  the  Society  had  received  a  curious 
manuscript  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark  in  Creolese,  the  dia- 
lect of  the  mixed  coloured  population  of  the  Islands  of 
Curacao.  The  translation  had  been  made  by  the  Rev.  S. 
Van  Diessel,  a  missionary  labouring  in  that  island,  and  the 
Board  was  glad,  on  being  assured  of  the  faithfulness  of 
the  version,  to  add  it  to  the  list  for  which  the  Society  is 
responsible. 

For  the  Islands  of  the  Pacific  the  Hawaiian  family  Bible 
had  been  electrotyped  and  printed,  together  with  portions 
for  several  of  the  Islands  of  Micronesia,  and  the  latest  work 
for  the  healing  of  the  nations  undertaken  at  the  Bible  House 
during  this  period  was  the  electrotyping  of  the  Bulgarian 
New  Testament  with  the  old  Slavic  in  parallel  columns. 

Among  these  numerous  versions  of  the  Bible,  the  Arabic 


330         FORGET  NOT  ALL  HIS  BENEFITS     [1861- 

version  deserv^es  more  than  a  casual  glance  which  it  has 
had.  The  Arabic  version  used  for  forty  years  or  more  by 
the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  was  the  work  of 
Sarkis,  a  Maronite  Bishop  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  He 
translated  the  whole  Bible  from  the  Vulgate  for  the  use  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Syria  and  the  work  was 
published  at  Rome  in  167 1.  In  the  form  there  printed  the 
Latin  original  accompanied  the  Arabic  in  parallel  columns. 
This  version  being  the  best  available  was  adopted  by  the  Brit- 
ish Society  in  1818,  the  Apocrypha  and  the  Latin  of  the 
diglot  being  of  course  discarded.  Scriptures  of  this  version 
were  the  ones  first  purchased  by  the  American  Bible  Society 
to  supply  American  missionaries  in  Syria,  and  were  gen- 
erally used  in  that  region  until  about  1864. 

A  new  Arabic  translation  free  from  the  inaccuracies  of 
the  Vulgate  seemed  absolutely  essential.  *'  The  Arabic 
translator  "  wrote  the  missionaries  in  urging  their  plea,  *'  is 
interpreting  the  lively  oracles  for  forty  millions  of  an  un- 
dying race  whose  successive  and  ever  augmenting  genera- 
tions shall  fail  only  with  the  final  termination  of  all  things. 
...  To  give  to  them  a  Christian  literature,  or  that  germinat- 
ing commencement  of  one  which  can  perpetuate  its  life 
and  expand  it  into  full  grown  maturity  is  to  put  in  their 
hands  gigantic  verities  taking  fast  hold  on  the  salvation 
of  myriads  whom  no  man  can  number  in  the  present  and 
all  future  generations !  " 

Books  in  Arabic  printed  from  type  made  in  Europe  are 
intolerable  to  Oriental  readers,  because  the  curves  and  slopes 
of  the  letters  are  not  artistically  proportioned.  Rev.  Dr. 
Eli  Smith,  who  commenced  the  great  work  of  translation, 
first  took  the  finest  available  specimens  of  Arabic  caligraphy, 
and  by  long,  patient  labour  reproduced  perfectly  all  the 
graceful  forms  for  which  Arabic  manuscripts  are  remark- 
able. The  pattern  letters  which  he  drew  averaged  about 
three  inches  in  height.  Mr.  Hallock,  the  printer,  with  a 
I)antograph  then  traced  the  letters,  reduced  to  the  required 
diamcnsions,  upon  polished  steel  from  which  he  finally 
cut  the  punches  with  which  matrices  were  formed.  So  per- 
fect were  Dr.  Smith's  models  that  the  form  of  the  letters 
has   never  been   modified   in   the   least.     They   satisfy   the 


1871]     ELECTROTYPING  THE  ARABIC  BIBLE   331 

reader  most  finical,  and  by  triumphantly  outdoing  efforts 
of  past  type-founders  they  disarm  the  Mohammedan  hatred 
of  everything  Christian.  The  form  of  type  having  been 
fixed,  the  work  of  translation  could  go  on  with  high  hopes. 

This  translation  of  the  Scriptures  begun  by  Dr.  Eli  Smith, 
revised  and  completed  by  Dr.  C.  V.  A.  Van  Dyck,  was 
brought  to  a  conclusion  in  sixteen  years.  The  laborious 
solicitude  with  which  accuracy  was  sought  should  be  noted. 
Of  every  form  thirty  proofs  were  taken  and  sent  to  as 
many  scholars  of  all  nations,  their  suggestions  and  criticisms 
being  carefully  considered  before  the  form  was  released  for 
printing.  After  several  editions  had  been  printed  from 
type  at  Beirut,  the  mission  unanimously  requested  the  So- 
ciety to  electrotype  the  book  in  ten  different  sizes  and  the 
request  was  warmly  urged  by  the  American  Board ;  with  the 
result  that  one  of  the  great  works  signalising  the  Jubilee 
year  was  the  making  of  electrotype  plates  for  the  Arabic 
Bible,  Rev.  Dr.  Van  Dyck,  the  translator,  supervising  the 
work  in  New  York.  The  first  plate  was  electrotyped 
March  15th,  1866. 

After  completing  three  sets  of  plates,  of  which  one  set 
was  sent  to  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  and  one 
retained  in  New  York  for  safety,  the  work  of  electrotyping 
was  transferred  to  Beirut,  the  Society  furnishing  a  complete 
equipment  and  a  skilled  electrotyper  to  instruct  the  Syrian 
workmen  in  the  process.  Since  that  time  this  Bible  has 
been  electrotyped  and  printed  at  the  Presbyterian  Mission 
Press  in  Beirut,  the  American  Bible  Society  paying  all  ex- 
penses of  publication  year  by  year. 

It  was  pleasant  to  render  the  kindly  service  to  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society  as  to  plates  of  the  new  version. 
That  Society  wished  to  buy  a  duplicate  set  of  the  Arabic 
plates  and  the  Committee  to  which  the  matter  was  re- 
ferred brought  in  a  report  of  which  the  noble  principle  was 
expressed  as  follows :  "  No  particular  part  of  this  broad 
work  belongs  of  right  to  either  Society  exclusively,  except 
so  far  as  God  in  His  Providence  may  afford  to  one  a 
more  ready  access  and  greater  facilities  than  to  the  other. 
In  this  great  work  of  evangelising  the  world  we  should  press 
forward   side  by   side,   with   one   heart  and   one  purpose. 


332  FORGET  NOT  ALL  HIS  BENEFITS     [1861- 

Xeither  should  '  they  call  aught  of  the  things  they  possess 
tlieir  own,'  but  all  things  should  be  '  in  common  '  for  the 
Master's  sake.  Translations  should  be  used  interchange- 
ably, and  any  advantage  or  facility  secured  by  one  Society 
should  be  a  gain  to  the  cause  and  to  all  who  love  it." 

The  Board  of  ^lanagers  approved  the  recommendation 
of  the  Committee  and  voted  to  furnish  the  duplicate  electro- 
type plates  without  charge.  It  accompanied  this  decision 
with  the  largest  liberty  for  the  free  and  unrestricted  use  of 
these  plates  by  the  British  Society  with  its  own  imprint,  con- 
ditioned only  by  the  provision  that  no  alteration  be  made  in 
the  plates  without  the  consent  of  the  American  Society. 
Rev.  Dr.  Bergne  in  communicating  a  graceful  resolution  of 
thanks  from  the  Committee  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  wrote  to  Dr.  Holdich :  *'  You  resolve  that  the  word 
of  God  shall  not  be  bound,  and  give  us  unrestricted  liberty 
to  the  use  of  a  translation  which  owes  its  existence  to  the 
able  scholarship,  laborious  toil,  and  indomitable  perseverance 
of  one  of  the  best  missionaries  America  has  sent  forth,  and 
whose  name  will  be  held  in  loving  veneration  not  only  in 
the  land  where  he  has  personally  been  known  but  wherever 
the  Arabic  tongue  is  spoken  and  the  Arabic  Bible  is  circu- 
lated. For  this  we  heartily  thank  your  Board  and  shall 
long  cherish  the  pleasant  remembrance  of  a  transaction  upon 
which  we  believe  the  blessing  of  God  will  abundantly  rest." 

Besides  this  progress  with  new  versions  many  events  dur- 
ing this  period  favoured  the  task  of  the  Society.  But  some 
hindered  it;  like  the  burning  of  Bibles  by  a  priest  in  Mass- 
achusetts and  like  the  suspicion  of  some  good  people  in 
Connecticut  that  the  Society  was  mismanaging  its  affairs. 
This  history  cannot  give  space  to  details  of  trials  which  in 
the  retrospect  seem  trivial.  The  Roman  Catholic  priest  who 
burned  Bibles  in  1869,  probably  really  thought  that  he  was 
doing  God  service  for  he  said,  like  one  who  boasts  a  good 
deed,  that  he  had  gathered  Bibles  from  the  parish  enough 
to  last  him  "  all  winter  for  kindling."  Connecticut  is  near 
enough  to  New  York  for  its  people  to  learn  for  themselves 
exactly  what  the  Society  is  doing  at  any  moment,  but  in 
1864,  some  of  the  good  people  of  that  state  made  known 
to  the  Congregational  General  Association  distrust  of  the 


1871]  FAVORING  THE  SOCIETY  333 

wisdom  and  practical  management  of  the  American  Bible 
Society.  The  Association  appointed  a  Committee  to  in- 
vestigate the  management  in  detail.  Two  years  later,  in 
June,  1866,  the  Committee  reported  through  its  chairman. 
Rev.  M.  N.  Morris,  that  it  had  made  a  full  and  careful  in- 
vestigation by  repeated  visits  to  the  Bible  House.  Upon 
the  recommendation  of  the  Committee,  the  Association 
adopted  resolutions  entirely  clearing  the  Bible  Society  of 
any  mismanagement  or  carelessness,  and  giving  thanks  to 
God  for  the  ability  and  fidelity  with  which  its  affairs  were 
conducted.  To  these  resolutions  the  Association  added 
another  asking  the  Society  to  study  the  question  whether  a 
way  could  not  be  devised,  without  detriment  of  the  mission- 
ary work  of  the  Society,  for  supplying  its  Bibles  everywhere 
through  the  ordinary  trade,  instead  of  limiting  their  sale 
to  a  few  only  of  the  more  important  centres  of  business. 
By  such  kindly  action  what  seemed  like  a  needless  burden 
cast  upon  the  Board  became  a  favouring  word. 

Three  of  the  events  which  favoured  the  task  of  the  So- 
ciety during  the  war  period  are  worthy  of  emphasis.  One 
of  these  was  the  sequel  to  the  daring  scheme  of  building  the 
new  Bible  House  on  a  great  scale.  This  scheme  was  en- 
tirely foreign  to  the  purpose  of  the  Board  until  disappoint- 
ment had  forced  the  giving  up  of  the  smaller  plans  which 
the  members  of  the  Board  had  formed  at  the  beginning. 
In  the  sequel  it  was  clearly  seen  that  without  that  great 
Bible  House  the  comprehensive  service  of  the  Society  for 
the  army  a  decade  later  could  not  possibly  have  been  ren- 
dered. Then  as  a  secondary  consequence  of  the  building 
of  the  Bible  House,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion was  established  under  that  roof.  From  that  associa- 
tion sprang  the  Christian  Commission  which  co-operated  in 
the  work  of  Bible  distribution  in  the  army  in  a  most  effi- 
cient way,  using  its  hundreds  of  agents  for  the  purpose, 
while  the  Society  had  comparatively  few  agencies  available 
for  work  among  the  vastly  increased  masses  of  soldiers. 

Another  of  these  notable  events  was  the  sudden  disap- 
pearance of  an  insurmountable  obstacle  like  a  failure  of  in- 
come at  a  time  when  general  distress  made  larger  contribu- 
tions improbable.     The  story  of  the  change  in  the  financial 


334         FORGET  NOT  ALL  HIS  BENEFITS     [1861- 

condition  of  the  Society  at  the  height  of  the  war  reads  Hke 
a  fairy  tale  of  a  good  child  liberally  cared  for,  by  a  mighty 
helper,  for  his  good  will  and  diligence.  "  The  Treasure 
House  of  the  Lord  is  the  hearts  of  His  people."  During 
the  five  years  after  the  Southern  States  seceded  until  the 
armies  were  disbanded  donations  from  churches  and  in- 
dividuals amounted  to  $263,681,  an  amount  considerably 
larger  than  donations  of  the  same  class  in  five  years  be- 
fore the  secession.  During  the  five  years  of  the  war  period, 
donations  from  Auxiharies  amounted  to  $375,754-  This 
amount  was  contributed  to  the  Society  after  more  than  six 
hundred  Auxiliaries  in  the  South  had  withdrawn,  and  it 
exceeded  the  gifts  of  all  the  Auxiliaries  in  any  previous 
period  of  five  years.  Again  during  this  same  five  years  of 
dire  need  on  the  part  of  the  Society,  receipts  from  legacies 
amounted  to  $475,733-  This  was  a  larger  sum  than  had 
been  received  from  legacies  in  any  other  period  of  five  years 
since  the  Society  was  founded,  and  it  was  $200,000  more 
than  the  total  of  legacies  in  the  next  largest  and  next  pre- 
vious five-year  period.  If  the  Society  had  possessed  a  wish- 
ing cap  which  would  enable  it  to  procure  gold  at  a  moment's 
notice,  the  effect  could  not  have  been  more  startling. 

One  more  notable  event  of  this  period  was  the  astonish- 
ing agreement  of  the  governments  and  generals  of  the  two 
conflicting  armies  to  allow  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Bibles 
and  Testaments  to  pass  through  their  lines  under  a  sort 
of  special  truce  almost  inconceivable  in  war  time.  Great 
as  was  the  benefit  of  this  episode  to  the  soldiers  of  the  South 
while  the  war  was  waging,  the  kindly  spirit  which  moved 
the  Society  was  thus  made  known  to  the  Southern  States 
and  prepared  the  Southern  people  to  welcome  the  Society 
after  the  war  as  if  war  had  not  been.  The  Society  had  not 
been  brought  into  collision  with  the  strong  sentiment  against 
union  of  the  States  which  existed  before  the  war  because  its 
very  object  held  it  aloof  from  purely  civil  questions. 
Therefore,  it  gladly  undertook  to  act  when  it  could,  as  an 
Agent  of  the  Lord  to  aid  and  renew  the  religious  activities 
of  the  South.  It  was  the  more  ready  to  pour  the  living 
waters  into  the  Southern  States  through  every  channel  since 


1871]         FAVORED  BIBLE  INSTITUTION  335 

there  can  be  no  real  or  enduring  pacification  without  the 
Bible  at  the  foundation  of  government  and  civilisation. 

These  and  many  similar  occurrences  in  Bible  Society  his- 
tory incline  men  to  say,  **  Events  have  favoured  the  enter- 
prise !  "  Events  have  neither  eyes,  brains,  nor  hands  that 
they  should  favour  or  oppose.  A  truly  intent  mind  will 
ask  Who  caused  those  favouring  events?  A  similar  ques- 
tion often  arises  in  the  ordinary  life  of  the  community. 
One  man  goes  out  to  do  what  his  hand  finds  to  do.  His 
task  is  perfectly  done.  Another  man  fails  in  all  that  he  tries 
to  do ;  when  he  looks  at  the  first  he  will  only  say,  "  Lucky 
dog !  "  But  when  the  successful  one  has  controlled  all  his 
powers  in  the  name  of  his  Master,  it  comes  to  light  that  he 
has  a  secret  which  makes  him  stronger.  The  secret  is 
that  he  is  controlled  by  the  thought,  "  My  God  helping  me, 
I  can  and  will  succeed  in  this  thing !  "  Like  the  Hebrews 
in  their  long  and  checkered  history,  the  members  of  the 
Society  were  taught  during  this  time  that  when  they  were 
weak  God  was  still  Almighty;  when  their  plans  seemed 
about  to  fail,  God's  plans  for  them  were  most  firmly  founded. 

The  men  in  the  Managers'  Room  did  their  best.  Work- 
men in  any  great  factory  finish  perfectly  the  single  piece  of 
wood  or  of  metal  assigned  to  them,  knowing  that  from  these 
detached  pieces  the  general  management  will  cause  to  be 
built  up  and  sent  forth  beautiful  machines  perfectly  adapted 
to  work.  What  these  men  did  in  the  Managers'  Room  in 
the  Bible  House  was  of  the  same  class;  they  did  the  duty 
next  at  hand,  believing  God  would  use  their  service  for  His 
great  ends.  It  is  in  the  periods  which  come  afterwards 
that  the  proofs  of  the  Bible  appear;  and  one  great  thing 
evident  to  the  later  reader  of  this  history  is  that  this  was 
a  reason  to  expect  the  interposition  of  the  Most  High  at 
this  time,  not  in  behalf  of  the  Society,  nor  in  behalf  of  the 
men  representing  it  and  sorely  tried  by  their  burdens,  but  in 
behalf  of  the  task  laid  upon  them  and  the  Book  which  they 
had  to  send  out.  The  cause  at  stake  was  a  great  one.  A 
failure  at  New  York  would  be  felt  throughout  the  home 
land,  with  its  growing  population,  and  abroad  among  the 
inarticulate  masses  of  India,  in  China,  in  Japan,  in  Africa, 


336    FORGET  NOT  ALL  HIS  BENEFITS  [1861-1871 

ind  in  Siberia.  The  benefit  of  the  events  which  favoured 
?he  task  of  the  Society  was  no  personal  gam.  The  gam 
was  to  the  people  who  needed  and  received  the  Bible  and 
gave  glory  to  God  Himself. 


SIXTH  PERIOD  1871-1891 
CHAPTER  XXXIX 

PAYING  THE  COST  OF   WAR 

Great  and  heroic  deeds  of  the  soldiers  fill  the  thoughts 
of  the  common  folk  at  the  end  of  a  successful  war.  Pain- 
ful surprises  await  the  people,  however,  when  the  dolorous 
task  begins  of  adjusting  the  war's  cost.  After  the  civil 
war,  when  business  depression  befogged  the  whole  country, 
the  people  at  large  were  taken  aback.  Anxiety  prevailed 
in  the  land;  in  some  places  money  almost  disappeared  from 
the  markets;  suffering  fell  upon  many  a  family;  even  a 
church,  here  and  there,  found  it  impossible  to  pay  the  salary 
of  the  pastor,  and  until  after  the  return  of  the  United 
States  Treasury  to  specie  payments  in  1879,  uncertainty 
hampered  all  plans  for  business  or  benevolence. 

As  the  nation  tried  to  struggle  up  from  the  enfeebling 
wastes  of  the  war,  local  catastrophes  added  to  the  general 
uneasiness.  In  October,  1871,  the  great  fire  in  Chicago 
destroyed  18,000  buildings  with  money  losses  estimated  at 
two  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  The  population  of  a  wide 
region  was  thus  bereft  —  the  Christians,  of  a  noble  rallying 
point,  and  the  pleasure-seekers,  of  the  kind  of  values  which 
the  Revelation  describes  as  lost  in  the  fall  of  Babylon. 
This  fire,  by  the  way,  occasioned  a  grant  by  the  Board  of 
$5,000  worth  of  Scriptures  to  the  Chicago  Bible  Society 
which  had  7,000  Bibles  in  stock,  paid  for,  as  one  might  say, 
by  sweat  of  the  brow,  and  entirely  destroyed  in  one  day. 
A  year  later,  in  November,  1872,  was  the  great  fire  in  Bos- 
ton, where  granite  buildings  supposed  to  be  absolutely  fire- 
proof melted  in  the  fervent  heat,  and  where  the  cost  of  the 
catastrophe  to  the  city  was  at  least  eight  millions  of  dol- 
lars.    It  was  in  Boston  at  this  time  that  love  for  the  Bible 

337 


338  PAYING  THE  COST  OF  WAR  [1871- 

had  noble  fruit  in  the  circumstance  that  three  of  the  larger 
Episcopal  churches  of  the  city  gave  the  Society  $2,500  for 
its  work  —  an  amount  considerably  more  than  their  gifts 
the  year  before. 

The  relation  of  these  painful  experiences  to  the  story 
of  the  Bible  Society  is  that  in  several  states  financial  strin- 
gency and  local  anxieties  made  men  quite  willing  to  shut 
their  eyes  to  the  needs  of  the  Bible  cause.  A  little  later 
people  would  become  accustomed  to  smaller  incomes  and 
then  they  might  perhaps  begin  to  afford  something  toward 
forwarding  the  interests  of  their  great  Master. 

The  Bible  Society  in  1867  reported  its  total  receipts  as 
$734,089.14.  Twelve  years  later,  in  1878,  its  report  of 
receipts  was  $446,954.04.  This  gives  some  impression  of 
the  financial  stress  which  the  period  of  recovery  from  the 
eifects  of  war  brought  to  the  Society.  A  comparison  of  the 
receipts  during  each  period  of  five  years  for  twenty-five 
years  after  the  Jubilee  Anniversary  will  give  a  clearer  idea, 
perhaps,  of  the  anxieties  of  the  Board  of  Managers. 

Receipts    for  the   five   years   ending 

March  31,  1871 $3,565453-94 

Receipts    for  the   five   years   ending 

Alarch  31,  1876   3,128,734.66 

Receipts    for  the   five   years    ending 

March  31,  1881    2,667,534.89 

Receipts    for  the   five   years   ending 

March  31,  1886    2,853,409.22 

Receipts    for  the  five  years   ending 

March  31,  1891    2,660,603.32 

The  situation  during  this  period  verged  on  the  desperate 
in  several  years  when  the  receipts  of  the  Society  were  over 
$100,000  less  than  the  expenditures. 

Receipts  from  sales  of  books  offered  no  relief  to  the 
Treasury,  although  they  amounted  to  $7,785,459;  for  the 
larger  part  of  the  Society's  issues  do  not  return  their  cost 
to  the  Treasury.  A  great  part  of  the  books  sold  to  the 
poor,  particularly  in  backward  foreign  lands,  bring  no  ade- 


1891]     A  FALLING  OFF  OF  CONTRIBUTIONS    339 

quate  price.  The  ten  per  cent,  discount  allowed  to  Auxiliar- 
ies and  to  the  book  trade,  taking  from  the  receipts  the 
element  calculated  to  cover  cost  of  rent,  supervision,  wear 
and  tear  of  plates,  etc.,  like  whole  or  partial  grants  of  books 
is  entirely  a  charge  upon  the  Society's  general  resources. 
Books  given  in  a  single  year  to  worthy  denominational 
evangelistic  enterprises  with  which  the  Society  co-operates, 
frequently  exceed  in  value  the  whole  sum  contributed  by 
the  denomination  toward  the  support  of  the  Society.  Tak- 
ing at  random  the  year  ending  March  31,  1884,  grants  of 
books  amounted  in  value  to  $195,041.  The  same  year  the 
donations  received  from  church  collections  and  from  in- 
dividuals amounted  to  $31,363.92,  a  sum  less  than  one- 
sixth  of  the  value  of  the  grants,  and  the  donors  probably 
hoped  that  they  had  paid  for  numbers  of  Bibles  besides  those 
furnished  for  the  uses  of  their  own  denomination. 

During  the  same  five  yearly  periods  from  March  31,  1866 
to  March  31,  1891,  donations  from  churches  and  individuals 
were,  respectively,  $300,623,  $176,907,  $159,072,  $154,310, 
and  $149,029.  Since  these  figures  show  that  contributions 
from  churches  and  individuals  in  the  last  five  years  (of 
the  period  ending  in  1891)  were  one  half  less  than  they 
were  twenty  years  before  the  question  may  arise  how  the 
great  development  of  the  Society's  work  at  home  and  abroad 
was  possible;  for,  as  was  stated  by  President  Allen  early 
in  this  period,  in  fifty-six  years  the  income  of  the  Bible 
Society  had  increased  twenty  fold,  but  the  volumes  issued 
had  increased  two  hundred  fold!  A  verse  in  Revelation 
pronounces  a  benediction  upon  the  dead  who  die  in  the 
Lord  and  rest  from  their  labours,  adding,  "  And  their  works 
do  follow  them."  This  verse  might  find  interpretation  and 
exemplification  in  this  epitome  of  financial  troubles.  Leg- 
acies of  saints  who  had  passed  away  during  this  period 
formed  the  largest  single  source  of  income  for  the  Society. 
The  aggregate  of  legacies  received  during  the  twenty-five 
years  was  $3,350,460,  while  the  total  of  donations  of 
churches  and  individuals  was  $939,941 ;  or,  adding  the  total 
of  Auxiliary  donations  which  amounted  to  $1,378,529,  as 
belonging  to  the  same  category  of  church  collections,  an  ag- 
gregate is  reached  of  $2,318,470.     That  is  to  say,  the  dona- 


340  PAYING  THE  COST  OF  WAR  [1871- 

lions  of  twenty-five  years  were  over  $1,000,000  less  than 
the  legacies  of  the  same  period. 

Difficulties  which  obstructed  the  collection  of  money  for 
the  Bible  cause  naturally  tended  to  weaken  Auxiliary  Bible 
Societies,  for  they,  too,  looked  to  the  churches  for  their 
support.  Many  of  those  which  had  shared  the  lights  and 
shadows,  and  borne  the  burdens  of  Bible  Society  progress 
since  1816  w-ere  still  strong  and  active.  Of  such  were  the 
old  state  Societies  in  Massachusetts,  in  Virginia,  and  in 
New  Hampshire,  the  latter  so  influential  as  to  send  in 
seventy-five  years  to  the  national  Society  $116,371  in  dona- 
tions. Among  these  earlier  Auxiliaries,  too,  were  county 
Societies,  like  that  of  Westchester  County  which  has  fur- 
nished presidents  and  vice-presidents  to  the  national  So- 
ciety; or  like  Orange  County,  Albany  County,  Saratoga 
County,  Washington  County,  Rockland  County,  and  the 
Long  Island  Bible  Society,  in  New  York,  the  Cumberland 
County  Society  in  New  Jersey,  and  the  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  Bible  Society,  all  of  which  appear  as  Auxiliaries 
in  the  very  first  report  of  the  American  Bible  Society. 

Other  state  societies,  like  those  of  Maryland  and  Cali- 
fornia, and  hundreds  of  county  Societies  of  later  origin  in 
almost  every  state  from  Maine  to  California,  were  sturdily 
pressing  forward  in  Bible  work  like  young  athletes  in  a 
Marathon  race.  The  good  women  of  Auxiliaries  in  Ohio, 
Delaware  and  New  York  were  still  relied  upon  with  con- 
fidence. In  Texas  the  Bible  Societies  at  Galveston  and 
Houston,  w^hich  were  organised  before  Texas  was  fully  dis- 
engaged from  Mexico,  and  at  Austin,  formed  as  soon  as 
the  Mexican  War  came  to  an  end,  were  trusty  helpers  of 
the  national  Society.  Two  score  or  more  of  Welsh  Auxil- 
iaries, one  of  them  being  in  New  York  City  and  quite  a 
number  in  Wisconsin,  maintained  a  noble  reputation  for 
self-denial  for  the  sake  of  sending  to  the  Bible  House, 
money  which  would  carry  Bible  light  into  dark  places. 

These  few  out  of  the  long  list  of  active,  self-sustaining 
Societies,  are  names  used  merely  as  illustrations  of  the 
working  of  the  original  plan  by  which  the  national  Society 
would  combine  and  harmonise  the  efforts  of  local  Societies 


1891]  THE  NEW  YORK  AUXILIARY  341 

willing  to  help  as  Auxiliaries.     In  this  list,  as  labouring 
against  peculiar  encumbrances,  the   New  York  Auxiliary 
may  be  mentioned.     It  always  feh  handicapped  by  the  fact 
that  the  city  was  the  head-quarters  of  the  national  Society. 
While  its  work  of  distribution  was  marked  with  vigour,  the 
collection  of  money  for  the  support  of  the  work  was  not 
easy.     Churches  and  many  individuals  in  the  city  often  pre- 
ferred to  give  for  the  world-wide  enterprise  of  the  national 
Society   rather  than   for  merely   local  undertakings.     The 
situation  was  like  that  of  a  son  keeping  a  haberdashery  shop 
in  the  city  where  his  father  has  a  department  store,  and  the 
business  depression  which  came  to  a  crisis  in  1873  seriously 
affected  the  New  York  Auxiliary.     During  the  Civil  War 
the  parent  Society  had  aided  it  to  supply  troops  and  sailors 
by  granting  to  it  about  $35,000  in  books  or  in  money.     In 
1873  this  Auxiliary's  indebtedness  for  Scriptures,  used  m 
the  main  for  immigrants  and  sailors,  was  cancelled  to  the 
amount  of  $35,485.     Two  years  later  a  new  indebtedness 
of  $20,500  for  books  had  accrued,  which  was  also  cancelled. 
At  the  same  time  the  Board  decided  to  aid  its  struggling 
helper  by  regular  monthly  grants  on  applications  submitted  to 
the  Distribution  Committee.     During  the  next  sixteen  years, 
from  the  ist  of  April,  1874,  to  the  31st  of  March,  1891,  the 
New  York  Auxiliary  drew  from  the  depository  under  this 
arrangement  books  valued  at  $187,609,  toward  the  cost  of 
which  it  had  paid  $8,669.     In  its  66th  annual  report  (1890) 
the  New  York  Auxiliary  mentions  the  fact  that  it  had  re- 
ceived in  that  year  from  the  American  Bible  Society  books 
valued  at  $9,148,  and  adds:  "Thus  that  Society  saved  us 
from  a  serious  deficit,  if  not  from  a  cessation  of  our  work, 
instead  of  receiving  financial  benefit  from  us."     These  cir- 
cumstances naturally  added  to  the  burdens  of  the  Managers. 
But  the  Board  was  full  of  sympathy  for  the  Auxiliary  be- 
cause ever  since  1829,  when  as  the  New  York  Young  Men's 
Bible  Society  it  asked  recognition  by  the  national  Society, 
it  had  spent  much  money  upon  the  expensive  task  of  seek- 
ing and  supplying  the  destitute  in  this  great  city. 

During  the  financial  stringency  which  followed  the  war, 
a  considerable  number  of  Auxiliaries  seemed  to  be  over- 


342  PAYING  THE  COST  OF  WAR  [1871- 

come  by  an  epidemic  paralysis  which  carried  alarm  into  the 
Bible  House  in  New  York/  The  Auxiliaries  which  slowly 
dried  up  like  herbage  on  the  edge  of  a  desert  were  chiefly 
in  the  newer  and  more  sparsely  settled  territories,  but  some 
of  them  were  found  also  in  the  most  favoured  states.  Num- 
bers were  found  to  be  irresponsible  as  well  as  inefficient  and 
were  kept  alive  by  the  costly  system  of  agencies.  In  1891, 
out  of  2,100  Auxiliaries  only  about  1,200  had  enough  physi- 
cal force  to  order  books  from  New  York.  Many  of  these 
did  nothing  more  than  to  keep  books  for  sale  in  depositories. 
Out  of  this  number  364  had  collected  money  for  Bible  dis- 
tribution, sending  the  surplus  to  the  national  Society.  Only 
990  of  the  whole  number  of  Auxiliaries  sent  in  reports,  and 
out  of  these  only  no  reported  that  they  had  been  engaged 
in  general  operations  in  their  respective  fields. 

The  original  plan  for  an  Auxiliary  system  laid  a  heavy 
burden  upon  local  Bible  Societies  in  expecting  of  them  both 
labour  in  distribution  of  Scriptures,  and  activity  in  collect- 
ing the  money  to  cover  expenses  of  the  distribution.  It  is 
impossible  to  review  the  history  of  those  Societies  without 
a  suspicion  of  a  parallel  with  men  expected  to  ''  make  bricks 
without  straw."  The  assumption  of  the  founders  of  the 
national  Society  was  that  Auxiliaries  would  always  be  stable 
in  purpose,  one  in  mind  with  the  national  Society  which  had 
just  been  organised.  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  defines  what 
such  unity  of  mind  is.     ''  To  be  of  the  same  mind  with 

1  Numbers  of  Auxiliaries  expected  the  Society  to  send  Agents  to 
relieve  them  of  the  labour  of  book-keeping,  of  stock-taking  and  even 
of  making  out  orders  for  books.  In  1877,  out  of  1968  Auxiliaries 
267  remitted  to  the  Treasury  money  for  books  and  as  donations, 
1 1 17,  for  books  only,  and  57,  as  donations  only.  Five  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  Societies  sent  nothing  for  either  books  or  donations. 
The  indebtedness  of  these  Societies  for  books  ordered  but  not  paid 
for  was  $169,000.  Of  the  Auxiliaries  919  reported  $166,624  as  cash 
received  by  their  Treasurers.  Of  this  sum  they  reported  $38,277  as 
expended  on  their  ovi^n  fields ;  for  books  and  donations  they  had  sent 
to  New  York  $114,213.  This  left  $14,134  unaccounted  for.  At  the 
same  time,  taking  reports  from  919  Auxiliaries  as  a  basis,  it  was 
estimated  that  the  1968  local  Societies  had  in  their  hands  and  en- 
tirely under  their  control,  books  valued  at  $427,465.  The  situation 
pictured  by  these  figures  made  the  Auxiliaries  Committee  at  the 
Bible  House  reluctant  to  withdraw  the  Agents  upon  whose  advice 
and  assistance  growth  in  efficiency  seemed  to  depend. 


1891]  FAILURE  IN  CONTRIBUTIONS  343 

another,"  says  he,  ''  is  to  see  all  things  in  the  same  perspec- 
tive. It  is  not  to  agree  with  him  in  a  few  things  near  at 
hand  and  not  much  debated.  It  is  to  stand  so  exactly  in 
the  centre  of  his  vision  that  whatever  he  may  express,  your 
eyes  will  light  at  once  on  the  original;  that  whatever  he 
may  see  to  declare,  your  mind  will  at  once  accept."  Now 
such  a  oneness  of  mind  among  Bible  Societies  implies  not 
only  stability  in  purpose,  but  the  existence  of  a  permanently 
helpful  constituency  and  environment. 

Besides  the  influences  already  suggested  as  combining  to 
hamper  the  support  of  Bible  work,  one  cause  should  be 
borne  in  mind  as  constantly  affecting  the  Society  as  well  as 
its  auxiliaries.  A  generation  which  has  studied  and  ap- 
preciates the  necessity  of  Bible  work  is  always  passing  away. 
A  new  generation  "  which  knows  not  Joseph  "  is  always  re- 
ceiving its  heritage  of  control  and  direction  in  secular  and 
religious  affairs.  Yet  the  new  generation  may  lack  knowl- 
edge of  the  relation  of  the  Bible  to  national  welfare.  That 
the  need  of  the  Bible  is  as  absolute  in  any  nation  as  the  need 
of  scientific  education,  has  to  be  taught  again  and  again. 
The  rising  generation  has  to  learn  that  the  supply  of  every 
family  in  the  nation  with  God's  word  is  as  much  a  public 
utility  as  the  introduction  of  electric  light  into  the  streets. 
To  many  the  idea  will  be  entirely  new  that  the  circulation 
of  the  Bible  has  the  power  of  God  behind  it,  as  certainly 
as  has  the  flow  of  sap  in  an  apparently  dry  tree  when  the 
spring  sun  stirs  it  to  life.  Again  and  again  the  new  genera- 
tion has  to  be  taught  that  for  their  own  welfare  the  Bible 
Society  should  be  enrolled  on  the  schedule  of  every  church 
for  an  annual  and  adequate  contribution.  Upon  this  sort 
of  educational  work  depends  the  adequate  support  of  inter- 
denominational enterprises  like  the  Bible  Society  and  its 
Auxiliaries,  even  when  their  activities  are  most  clearly 
needed  by  the  churches. 

To  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  the  time  here  de- 
scribed offered  wonderful  opportunities  for  fruitful  effort. 
The  stimulus  which  emerged  from  the  complex  of  influences 
left  by  the  Civil  War  was  felt  in  all  the  churches  as  it 
was  in  the  Society.  It  was  a  glorious  era  of  expansion  of 
missions,  of  establishing  schools,  colleges,  institutions  for 


344 


PAYING  THE  COST  OF  WAR  [1871- 


freedmen,  homes  for  the  aged,  hospitals,  and  every  other 
concrete  expression  of  Christian  desire  to  benefit  mankind. 
The  churches  were  electrical  with  longing  to  serve  and  hon- 
our the  Lord.  In  these  various  enterprises  the  Society 
heartily  rejoiced.  Perhaps  the  Bibles  distributed  broadcast 
in  the  land  during  and  since  the  war  had  prepared  the  way 
for  these  various  undertakings  of  the  different  denomina- 
tions. The  Bible  was  often  a  pioneer  in  home  evangelistic 
activities ;  while  home  missions,  on  the  other  hand,  fostered 
need  of  the  Bible.  Thus  all  worked  together  to  advance 
the  kingdom  of  Christ.  These  splendid  and  most  timely 
undertakings  of  the  denominations  could  not  succeed  with- 
out money.  Insensibly,  this  need  of  money  displaced  in 
some  churches  the  annual  collection  for  the  Bible  Society, 
although  the  Bible  is  so  essential  an  element  in  home  evan- 
gelisation. 

Men  of  business  principles  like  the  laymen  who  conduct 
the  affairs  of  the  Bible  Society  again  and  again  must  have 
felt  it  their  duty  to  reduce  the  large  expenditures  abroad 
and  at  home  in  view  of  the  steady  falling  off  In  the  contribu- 
tions of  the  churches  to  the  support  of  the  Society.  But  a 
permanent  failure  of  support  for  Bible  work  was  almost 
unthinkable.  The  labours  of  the  Society  at  home  and 
abroad,  like  other  missionary  operations,  continually  called 
for  larger  ventures,  as  will  be  seen  in  later  chapters.  The 
task  of  Bible  Societies  cannot  be  ended  until  every  family 
on  the  face  of  the  earth  has  received,  or  at  least  has  been 
offered  a  copy  of  the  Bible.  Many  attempts  were  there- 
fore made  to  increase  contributions  to  the  Bible  cause. 

An  attempt  was  made  with  some  success  in  some  parts  of 
the  country  to  enlist  Sunday  School  children  for  the  support 
of  the  Bible  cause.  Another  measure  in  the  same  direction 
was  a  decision  that  in  districts  where  Auxiliaries  were  inert 
or  careless  the  Agents  should  go  directly  to  the  churches 
proposing  to  them  to  make  their  contributions  to  the  Treas- 
ury in  New  York  without  reference  to  the  moribund  local 
Auxiliaries.  This  rather  drastic  action  was  approved  by 
many  ecclesiastical  bodies  in  different  parts  of  the  United 
States  and  of  different  denominations,  since  this  arrange- 
ment would  bring  the  churches  into  direct  relations  with  the 
Society.     When  the  fourth  General  Supply  of  the  destitute 


1891]     DECLINE  IN  RECEIPTS  CONTINUES        345 

in  the  United  States  was  decided  upon  in  1882,  a  general 
appeal  was  sent  out  for  special  contributions,  since  the  So- 
ciety would  have  to  spend  considerable  sums  for  distribu- 
tion by  means  of  colporteurs.  The  Board  also  sent  a  strong 
appeal  to  lovers  of  humanity  everywhere  to  become  Life 
Members  of  the  Society  in  order  to  aid  in  its  support. 

Several  times  an  urgent  proposal  was  made  to  change  the 
price  of  books  so  as  to  make  it  possible  to  offer  the  book 
trade  attractive  discounts  and  thus  secure  aid  in  Bible  dis- 
tribution ;  this,  however,  after  long  study  by  experts  was 
steadily  refused  by  the  Board.  As  the  Connecticut  Con- 
gregational Association  pointed  out  in  1866:  "The  laws  of 
trade  or  the  principle  of  profit  will  never  carry  the  gospel 
to  heathen  lands  nor  distribute  the  Bible  to  the  poor  at 
home  or  to  those  who  need  its  influence  but  do  not  realise 
its  worth.  If  these  are  to  be  supplied  it  must  be  by  other 
means."  ^ 

These  various  measures  availed  little.  Then  the  num- 
ber of  colporteurs  employed  in  the  United  States  in  con- 
nection with  the  fourth  General  Supply  was  reduced,  and 
reduction  of  aid  to  missions  abroad  seemed  imminent.  The 
Society  had  already  withdrawn  from  Greece,  where  it  had 
been  working  for  more  than  fifty  years.  The  withdrawal 
was  due  partly  to  the  closing  of  American  missions  in  that 
country,  but  chiefly  to  the  lack  of  money  in  the  Treasury. 
And  now,  in  1891,  for  the  first  time  in  its  history,  inade- 
quacy of  receipts  compelled  the  Board  to  defer  making  im- 
portant appropriations  for  its  foreign  work.  In  1880  the 
Board  decided  upon  the  absolute  necessity  of  establishing 
a  reserve  fund  which  should  protect  the  work  of  the  So- 
ciety in  times  of  financial  stress  and  emergency,  but  the 
provision  of  such  a  fund  now  seemed  impossible.  The  ad- 
ministration of  the  Society  seemed  to  be,  like  Othello, 
"  steeped  in  poverty  to  the  very  lips." 

At  each  of  the  most  difficult  moments  of  this  period  lega- 
cies brought  a  respite.  Several  large  bequests  were  received, 
of  which  $10,000  from  the  late  W.  B.  Astor  was  a  type,  and 
many  small  ones  charged  with  love,  like  a  legacy  of  about 
$900  from  an  aged  coloured  woman  who  had  been  a  slave 

1  Bible  Society  Record,  July,  1881,  p.  98. 


346  PAYING  THE  COST  OF  WAR     [1871-1891 

in  Georgia.  Nevertheless,  the  continual  threats  of  the 
financial  situation  called  to  mind  St.  Paul's  allusion  to  the 
"  thorn  in  the  flesh  "  which  he  found  disagreeable  enough 
to  justify  prayer  for  its  removal.  His  allusion  does  not 
describe,  it  merely  suggests;  moreover,  it  does  not  give  a 
hint  as  to  the  sequel.  It  merely  says  that  the  Lord  rated 
His  grace  as  sufficient  for  the  sufferer.  Doubtless,  the 
members  of  the  Board  and  the  Secretaries,  if  they  could 
speak  to  us  to-day,  would  tell  us  that  the  grace  of  the  Lord 
is  sufficient  for  any  man,  for  it  permanently  turns  the  mind 
from  pain. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  Board  and  the  Executive 
Officers,  financial  weakness  did  not  prove  an  unmitigated 
evil.  It  insured  discovery  that  money  is  an  incident  and 
not  the  soul  of  success  in  missionary  work,  it  kept  them  from 
thinking  that  their  own  wits  accomplished  results,  kept 
them  near  to  their  Master,  and  it  forced  upon  these  servants 
of  God  alertness  and  concentration  of  mind  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  work  committed  to  their  care.  In  the  strength 
thus  cultivated  they  performed  their  tasks,  trying  mean- 
while to  suggest  to  the  minds  of  the  people  the  idea  found 
in  the  old  rule  of  the  Talmud  for  work  which  is  incumbent 
upon  all :  "  If  some  complete  the  work  effectively,  the  duty 
performed  is  credited  to  the  whole  body;  but  if  through 
failure  of  some  the  cause  suffers,  the  sin  of  it  lies  upon 
the  whole  body !  " 


CHAPTER  XL 

EVENTS   AND   EMERGENCIES   IN   THE   BIBLE    HOUSE 

In  times  of  stress  such  as  the  last  chapter  introduced, 
able,  broad-minded,  and  consecrated  leaders  became  known 
to  every  active  Christian.  That  men  of  weight  are  numer- 
ous, even  exceedingly  numerous,  in  every  denomination  is 
one  of  the  surprises  encountered  whenever  several  denomin- 
ations work  together.  In  the  rapid  procession  of  choice  and 
earnest  men  who  pass  through  the  pages  of  this  history,  each 
successive  group  owed  its  dependence  for  strength  and 
ability  upon  God  alone.  The  Society  is  inclusive.  It 
brings  together  in  practical  and  effective  co-operation  men 
of  different  theological  views  in  order  that  their  very  dif- 
ferences may  brighten  labour  for  God's  Kingdom ;  the  word 
of  God  being  an  inviolable  bond  of  unity.  The  changes 
which  occurred  in  the  Society  from  year  to  year  emphasised 
the  religious  basis  of  many  a  noble  life.  The  end  of  such 
a  life  on  earth  to  the  labourers  who  remain  is  a  painful  emer- 
gency, but  its  revelation  that  the  departed  one  was  led  of 
the  spirit  of  God  is  a  memorable  event. 

Of  the  sixty  men  of  1816  who  met  in  the  Garden  Street 
Church  to  lay  foundations  for  the  institution  whose  develop- 
ment has  been  followed  during  nearly  three  score  years,  the 
Rev.  Gardiner  Spring,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  died  in  1873.  He  had 
been  identified  during  fifty-seven  years  with  the  history  and 
progress  of  the  Society.  During  eighteen  years  he  was 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Versions,  retiring  in  1864 
by  reason  of  the  infirmities  of  age.  As  pastor  he  was  al- 
ways active  in  forwarding  the  interests  of  the  Society,  and 
the  Board  gave  thanks  to  God  for  the  long  and  valuable 
services  of  this  eminent  man.  One  man  only  of  that  dis- 
tinguished body  remained  until  1875.     M^-  Henry  W.  War- 

347 


348  EVENTS  AND  EMERGENCIES         [1871- 

ner  was  one  of  the  representatives  of  the  Auxiliary  New 
York  Bible  Society  in  the  Convention  of  1816.  He  served 
for  a  time  as  President  of  that  Society.  In  his  own  time 
he  had  been  well-known  as  a  cultured  writer  and  lawyer  in 
New  York,  but  in  1875,  when  he  passed  away,  Mr.  Warner 
was  remembered  by  younger  men  as  the  father  of  Susan 
Warner,  author  of  the  "  Wide,  Wide  World,"  ''  Queechy," 
and  other  books,  and  of  Anna  B.  Warner,  who  wrote  under 
the  pen  name  of  Amy  Lothrop.^ 

The  changes  in  the  presidential  chair  during  this  period 
were  unusually  many.  President  James  Lenox  became  a 
Manager  of  the  Society  in  1838.  In  1854  he  was  chosen 
Vice-President,  and  in  1864  President  of  the  Society;  per- 
forming the  duties  of  his  high  office  with  grace  and  dignity. 
In  1 87 1,  cherished  schemes  of  Christian  benevolence  de- 
manding his  constant  attention,  he  urged  that  it  was  impos- 
sible with  justice  to  himself  to  give  attention  longer  to  the 
duties  of  his  position,  and  he  resigned,  to  the  great  regret 
of  the  Board.  On  the  17th  of  February,  1880,  Mr.  Lenox 
passed  away. 

Dr.  William  H.  Allen  of  Philadelphia,  President  of 
Girard  College,  was  elected  President  of  the  Society  in  1872. 
His  character  displayed  a  rare  blending  of  simplicity  and 
dignity,  of  firmness  and  gentleness,  and  he  was  held  in  the 
highest  esteem  by  all  who  knew  him.  After  eight  years  of 
service  of  the  Bible  cause  he  felt  obliged  to  resign  his 
office.  Once  before  he  had  signified  his  intention  to  retire, 
but  his  associates  in  the  management  of  the  Society  per- 
suaded him  to  continue.  After  his  resignation  the  Board 
elected  him  Vice-President,  so  that  his  counsel  and  influence 
might  still  be  enjoyed.  In  August,  1882,  he  finished  his 
work  on  earth.  His  funeral  was  held  in  the  Arch  Street 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Philadelphia. 

Dr.  Allen  was  succeeded  as  President  by  the  Hon.  S. 
Wells  Williams,  LL.D.,  who  took  up  the  duties  of  office 
March  31,  1881.     President  Williams  was  the  son  of  one 

1  Who  remained  a  warm  friend  of  the  Society  until  her  death  in 
1915.  The  beautiful  home  of  the  family  on  Constitution  Island  op- 
posite West  Point  is  now  the  property  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, through  a  generous  and  happy  thought  of  Mrs.  Russell  Sage. 


1891]  SOME  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS  349 

of  the  founders  of  the  Bible  Society.  In  1833  ^^  went  to 
China  as  a  missionary  of  the  American  Board.  After 
twenty-five  years  of  enthusiastic  missionary  service,  he  en- 
tered the  diplomatic  service  of  the  United  States,  from 
which  he  retired  in  1876.  He  was  a  man  of  deep  mission- 
ary convictions  and  of  international  reputation  as  a  linguist, 
a  sinologue,  and  a  statesman.  His  counsels  were  invaluable 
to  the  Society.  It  was  with  peculiar  sorrow,  therefore,  that 
the  members  of  the  Society  learned  of  his  death  in  Febru- 
ary, 1884.  He  died  as  he  had  lived,  with  a  simple,  childlike 
personal  trust  in  Christ,  and  a  radiant  assurance  of  the 
triumph  of  Christ's  Kingdom  in  all  pagan  lands. 

In  November,  1884,  the  Hon.  Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen, 
Secretary  of  State,  and  for  twenty-one  years  Vice-President 
of  the  Society,  was  elected  President.  He  accepted  the 
office,  intending  to  take  up  its  duties  as  soon  as  his  term  as 
Secretary  of  State  was  completed;  but  on  his  return  from 
Washington  to  his  home  in  Newark,  New  Jersey,  he  was  ill, 
and  on  the  20th  day  of  May,  1885,  he  passed  away,  not  hav- 
ing entered  upon  the  Presidential  office. 

Judge  Enoch  L.  Fancher,  Vice-President  of  the  Society 
during  eighteen  years,  was  elected  President  in  December, 
1885.  Judge  Fancher  had  been  a  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  was  arbitrator  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  being  a  jurist  of  prominence  and  of 
irreproachable  Christian  character.  For  many  years  he  had 
been  an  active  member  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  series  of  great  men  who  have  served  the  American 
Bible  Society  as  Vice-Presidents  illustrate  the  importance 
of  the  office,  as  well  as  the  dignity  which  they  have  imparted 
to  it.  Many  of  them  resided  too  far  from  New  York  often 
to  meet  with  the  Society,  but  the  death  of  such  was  a  loss  to 
the  Society  as  serious  as  though  they  had  been  in  daily 
converse  with  their  associates  in  the  common  work.  Let 
this  place  be  devoted  to  mention  of  the  Vice-Presidents  who 
died  during  the  twenty  years  ending  in  1891. 

John  Tappan,  Esq.,  of  Boston  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bible  Society,  a  Congregationalist  of 
benevolent  activity.     It  was  privately  recorded  that  he  came 


350  EVENTS  AND  EMERGENCIES  [1871- 

one  day  to  the  Board  with  a  thousand  dollars  in  hand  which 
he  wished  to  give  for  sending  a  richly  bound  Bible  to  each 
of  the  rulers  of  the  earth.  The  scheme  was  carried  out; 
and  one  wonders  what  the  rulers  of  the  earth  thought  of  it. 
But  in  the  archives  of  the  Society  are  letters  from  a  number 
of  Presidents,  Kings,  and  Emperors  courteously  acknowl- 
edging the  gift.^  Mr.  Tappan's  good  works  on  earth  came 
to  an  end  in  1871. 

The  planning  of  measures  of  supply  for  the  United  States 
Treasury  during  the  Civil  War  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  Hon. 
Salmon  P.  Chase  of  Ohio,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
Later  he  became  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  From  1843  ^^^^^il  his  death  in  1873  ^e  was 
actively  interested  in  Bible  work  as  President  of  the  Cin- 
cinnati Young  Men's  Bible  Society  and  in  1865  he  became 
a  Vice-President  of  the  American  Bible  Society.  To  be 
a  lawyer  of  eminence,  a  Governor  of  the  State  of  New 
Jersey  term  after  term,  and  minister  of  the  United  States 
to  Berlin  does  not  militate  against  the  possessor  of  these 
distinctions  being  a  warm-hearted,  devoted  member  of  the 
Reformed  (Dutch)  Church  and  during  thirty-four  years  a 
Vice-President  of  the  American  Bible  Society.  Such  was 
the  Hon.  Peter  D.  Vroom,  who  passed  to  the  higher  life  in 

1873. 

The  Hon.  William  A.  Buckingham,  as  governor  of  Con- 
necticut during  the  Civil  War,  was  a  counsellor  and  friend 
of  President  Lincoln,  and  from  1869  until  his  death  in  1875 
he  was  United  States  Senator  from  Connecticut.  He  was 
Moderator  of  the  first  Congregational  National  Council,  and 
became  Vice-President  of  the  Society  in  1865.  An  eminent 
lawyer  of  New  Orleans,  Joseph  A.  Maybin,  Esq.,  Vice- 
President  twenty-three  years  and  President  of  the  South- 
western Bible  Society  twenty-six  years,  entered  into  rest  in 
1876,  full  of  honours  and  full  of  days.  Hon.  H.  P.  Haven 
of  Connecticut,  a  mighty  Sunday  School  champion,  died  in 
1876.  Myron  P.  Phelps,  Esq.,  a  prosperous  business  man 
of  Lewiston,  Illinois,  during  twenty-six  years  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  Society,  reached  the  term  of  his  life  on  earth 

1  Volume  marked  Miscellaneous  Correspondence  1843-1857,  at  the 
end. 


1891]     DISTINGUISHED  VICE-PRESIDENTS        351 

in  1878.  After  twenty-eight  years  as  Vice-President  Plon. 
Abraham  B.  Hasbrouck  of  New  York,  finished  in  1879  a 
life  of  service  to  the  church,  the  state,  and  the  school.  The 
Chief-Justice  of  the  territory  of  Utah,  an  officer  in  the 
Civil  War,  and  a  warm-hearted  Methodist,  Hon.  James  B. 
McKean,  passed  from  this  Hfe  in  the  same  year.  Two 
eminent  Vice-Presidents  who  died  in  1880  were  the  Hon. 
Edward  McGehee  of  Mississippi,  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  South,  a  distinguished  jurist,  and  the  Hon. 
Lafayette  S.  Foster,  a  Connecticut  Congregationalist,  Judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  state.  United  States  Senator, 
and  an  intimate  friend  of  President  Lincoln.  Upon  Mr. 
Lincoln's  death  in  1865,  Mr.  Foster  became  Acting  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States.  The  Hon.  Horace  May- 
nard  of  Tennessee  was  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
and  served  his  country  well  as  Senator,  as  Post  Master 
General,  and  as  Minister  to  Turkey.  In  that  strange  land, 
too,  he  served  the  Bible  Society  by  clearing  away  illegal 
restrictions  on  colportage.     His  death  was  in  1882. 

C.  C.  Trowbridge,  Esq.,  of  Detroit,  long  a  member  of  the 
Standing  Committee  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Diocese, 
died  in  1883.  He  had  grown  up  with  Michigan  from  the 
period  when  it  was  a  vast  and  little  known  territory.  The 
President  of  the  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  Bible  So- 
ciety, a  financier  of  renown  born  in  Germany,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  of  the  Confederate  States,  the  Hon.  C.  C. 
Memminger,  died  in  1888  after  fifteen  years'  service  of  the 
American  Bible  Society  as  Vice-President.  It  is  not  easy 
to  picture  in  the  mind  Chicago  as  a  hamlet  of  eight  small 
houses.  But  a  pioneer  who  built  and  lived  in  one  of  the 
eight  little  structures  that  fixed  the  site  of  the  great  city  was 
Judge  Grant  Goodrich.  During  twenty-three  years  he  was 
a  Vice-President  and  in  1889  received  the  summons  to  ap- 
pear on  high.  In  1889,  too,  Jacob  Sleeper,  Esq.,  a  mer- 
chant of  Boston,  a  Methodist  unceasing  in  efforts  to  increase 
churches  and  schools,  one  of  the  founders  of  Boston  Uni- 
versity, and  President  of  the  Massachusetts  Bible  Society, 
rested  from  his  labours.  In  the  same  year  death  took  a  dis- 
tinguished Baptist,  Prof.  W.  Gammell,  LL.D.,  of  Brown 
University,  and  that  great  captain  of  the  forces  of  the  King- 


352  EVENTS  AND  EMERGENCIES  [1871- 

dom,  George  H.  Stuart,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  merchant, 
banker,  President  of  the  Christian  Commission  during  the 
Civil  War  and  during  twenty-five  years  Vice-President  of 
the  Society. 

Every  Vice-President  of  the  Society,  by  virtue  of  his  of- 
fice, is  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Managers.  In  looking 
over  the  records  of  the  Board,  one  is  struck  with  the  num- 
ber of  Vice-Presidents  living  in  and  about  New  York  whose 
names  appear  in  every  emergency.  The  loss  of  the  counsel 
of  such  experienced  men  in  the  committees  was  deeply  felt. 
By  grouping  together  the  names  of  Vice-Presidents  and 
Managers  who  were  members  of  the  Finance  Committee, 
for  instance,  and  who  passed  away  during  this  period,  the 
seriousness  of  the  loss  appears.  Vice-President  F.  H.  Wol- 
cott  (d.  1882)  was  one  member  of  this  group.  During 
thirty  years  he  served  the  Society  first  as  Manager  and 
then  as  Vice-President.  Besides  his  work  on  the  Finance 
Committee,  he  was  active  in  the  Committee  on  Distribution. 
Vice-President  Frederick  S.  Winston,  elected  member  of 
the  Board  in  1839,  and  Vice-President  in  1865,  was  for 
thirty-two  years  chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee.  Oc- 
cupied in  all  this  time  with  business  afifairs  of  his  own  which 
attained  success  of  colossal  proportions,  he  was  so  identified 
with  the  Society  that  there  was  no  part  of  its  work  of  which 
he  was  not  a  part.  He  died  in  1884.  During  twenty-one 
years  a  member  of  the  Finance  Committee  was  Vice-Presi- 
dent Hiram  M.  Forrester,  Esq.  (d.  1888),  a  lawyer,  and  a 
master  of  wise,  clear,  concise  statement.  Vice-President 
James  M.  Brown  (d.  1890),  the  head  of  the  banking  house 
of  Brown  Brothers  and  Company,  and  President  of  the  New 
York  Chamber  of  Commerce,  served  in  the  Finance  Com- 
mittee, and  in  the  Committee  of  Publication.  He  was 
Senior  Warden  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  the  Ascension. 

A  member  of  the  Board  who  served  with  ardent  love  in 
the  Finance  Committee  was  A.  P.  Cumings,  Esq.,  an  editor 
and  proprietor  of  the  New  York  Observer, ^  who  died  at 
Nice,  France,  in  1871,  and  on  the  day  of  his  death  spoke 
tenderly  of  the  Board  which  would  meet  that  day.  James 
Donaldson,  Esq.  (d.  1872),  who  was  thirty-one  years  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Managers,  a  leader  in  the  Finance 


1891]  NOTABLE  COMMITTEEMEN  353 

Committee  and  in  the  Committee  on  Publication.  Charles 
N.  Talbot,  Esq.  (d.  1874),  who  had  been  a  merchant  in 
China  for  some  years,  was  a  member  of  the  Committee  on 
Finance  and  the  Committee  on  Publication  twenty-six  years. 
Washington  R.  Vermilye,  Esq.  (d.  1876),  an  elder  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church  (who  began  his  business  life,  by  the 
way,  as  a  clerk  in  the  Society's  house  in  Nassau  street),  well- 
known  as  President  of  the  Greenwich  Savings  Bank,  served 
in  the  Finance  Committee  twenty-three  years.  George  W. 
Lane  (d.  1883),  a  financier,  was  also  a  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Finance.  William  G.  Lambert  (d.  1883),  another 
member  of  the  Committee,  was  a  successful  business  man 
in  New  York  City  who  for  nineteen  years  had  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board.  The  finances  of  the  Society  were  always 
in  efficient  hands.  And  when  vacancies  occurred  the  Board 
filled  them  with  other  men  of  the  same  choice  type. 

Other  Vice-Presidents  prominent  in  the  Board  of  Manag- 
ers were  Marshall  S.  Bidwell,  Esq.  (d.  1872),  eminent  at 
the  bar,  distinguished  for  learning,  culture,  and  intellectual 
power,  as  well  as  for  a  spotless  Christian  life,  who  served 
in  the  Committee  on  Legacies  and  the  Committee  on  Dis- 
tribution; James  Suydam,  Esq.  (d.  1872),  of  an  old  Hol- 
land family  of  New  York,  and  a  member  of  the  Reformed 
(Dutch)  Church,  successful  in  business,  during  twenty- four 
years  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Legacies;  Charles 
Tracy,  Esq.  (d.  1885),  a  member  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church,  a  prominent  lawyer  in  New  York  City,  who 
during  a  whole  generation  used  his  special  knowledge  of 
the  law  of  wills  as  Chairman  of  the  Legacies  Committee; 
Norman  White,  Esq.  (d.  1883),  who  deemed  it  his  highest 
honour  to  share  in  the  work  of  Bible  distribution  and  was 
prominent  during  forty  years  in  all  the  affairs  of  the  So- 
ciety; Richard  P.  Buck,  Esq.  (d.  1884),  a  true  Puritan  of 
the  ancient  stock  in  modern  times,  who  during  twenty  years 
was  rarely  absent  from  a  meeting  of  the  Board ;  A.  Robert- 
son Walsh,  Esq.  (d.  1884),  who  became  a  Manager  of  the 
Society  in  1844  and  during  forty  years  made  his  abilities 
felt  especially  in  the  Committee  of  Publication;  Robert 
Carter,  Esq.  (d.  1889),  who  became  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Managers  in  1855.     As  he  was  a  member  of  the  well- 


354  EVENTS  AND  EMERGENCIES  [1871- 

known  publishing  house  of  Carter  and  Brothers,  he  natu- 
rally found  his  work,  too,  in  the  Committee  of  Publication. 

Members  of  the  Board  of  Managers  passed  away  during 
this  period  who  showed  a  variety  of  abilities  and  tempera- 
ments:  George  D.  Phelps,  Esq.  (d.  1872),  was  a  man  out- 
spoken in  his  strong  convictions,  and  very  efficient  in  work 
for  the  Board.  Edward  J.  Woolsey,  Esq.  (d.  1872),  a 
Presbyterian  of  an  intellectual  ancestry,  who  served  well  the 
Bible  cause  during  twenty-eight  years.  Jonathan  Sturges 
(d.  1874),  a  successful  merchant,  warm-hearted  and  gener- 
ous, who  concentrated  his  whole  mind  on  the  problems  of 
the  Committee  on  Distribution  and  of  the  Committee  on 
Legacies.  William  H.  Aspinwall  (d.  1875),  son  of  John 
A.  Aspinwall,  of  the  Society's  first  Board  of  Managers,  a 
man  of  affairs,  clear  judgment,  devotion  and  tact,  worked 
v/ith  the  Legacies  Committee.  A  ruling  elder  in  the  Pres- 
byterian church,  member  of  the  State  Legislature,  and  for 
twenty-three  years  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Managers 
was  Chandler  Starr,  Esq.,  who  died  in  1876.  The  good 
work  of  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  of  the  first  Board  of 
Managers  was  taken  up  and  carried  forward  during  forty- 
five  years  by  his  son,  Alexander  Van  Rensselaer  (d.  1878). 
The  Hon.  Nathan  Bishop,  LL.D.,  member  of  the  Board  of 
Indian  Commissioners,  and  Trustee  of  Vassar  College,  who 
served  in  the  Board  of  Managers  as  one  of  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Baptist  Church,  finished  his  useful  life  in  1880. 
Dr.  James  L.  Banks  (d.  1883),  a  physician  long  a  member  of 
the  Committee  on  Publication,  spent  the  last  day  but  one  of 
his  consciousness  in  that  Committee.  William  E.  Dodge, 
President  of  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce,  passed 
away  in  1883.  During  twenty-five  years  he  had  shown  in 
the  Board  the  enterprise,  sagacity,  and  integrity  which  won 
him  a  commanding  position  in  business  life.  John  Earle 
(d.  1 891)  was  connected  with  several  important  financial 
institutions  in  the  city,  a  member  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church,  and  gave  his  valuable  time  to  the  Society  as 
a  true  missionary  institution  during  eighteen  years  in  the 
Committee  on  Legacies. 

Men's  lives  often  consist  of  a  round  of  simple  activities 
important  to  a  small  circle  of  friends,  but  not  notable  to 

I 


1891]         SECRETARY  HOLDICH  RETIRES  355 

mankind  at  large.  The  members  of  the  Board  of  Manag- 
ers, although  making  no  noise  or  bluster  about  their  work, 
were  of  a  quality  to  give  it  weight  in  the  city  where  they 
were  known.  Belonging  to  different  denominations  whose 
diversities  formed  a  considerable  s-afe-guard  against  unwise 
or  careless  action,  their  character  imparted  serious  im- 
portance to  all  decisions  of  the  Board.  Such  were  the  men 
who  led  the  policy  of  the  Society  during  the  larger  part  of 
this  period. 

The  Board  relies  on  the  Secretaries  of  the  Society  for 
important  information  respecting  past  action  of  the  Board 
or  relations  with  Societies,  churches  or  individuals.  Hence 
it  is  a  somewhat  serious  matter  when  an  efficient  Secretary 
resigns  his  office.  In  1871  the  Rev.  T.  Ralston  Smith,  after 
five  years  of  service,  resigned  in  order  to  return  to  the  at- 
tractive duties  of  pastoral  work  to  which  he  had  been 
urgently  invited.  His  capacity,  his  industry,  and  his  affable 
manner,  had  won  the  regard  of  all.  The  Rev.  Edward  W. 
Oilman,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in 
Stonington,  Connecticut,  was  then  elected  Secretary  of  the 
Society.  It  was  no  small  privilege  to  Dr.  Oilman  to  have 
during  seven  years  the  advantage  of  the  counsel  and  ex- 
perience of  Secretary  Holdich.  It  was  thought  at  the  time 
that  two  Secretaries  only  might  watch  over  the  corre- 
spondence, but  after  a  fair  trial  the  Board  decided  that  the 
work  of  the  Society  was  too  great  for  this,  and  in  1874 
the  Rev.  Alexander  McLean,  D.D.,  of  Buffalo,  was  elected 
Secretary  and  given  the  supervision  of  the  District  Super- 
intendents and  the  Auxiliary  Societies. 

With  profound  regret  the  Board  in  1878  accepted  the 
resignation  of  Rev.  Joseph  Holdich,  D.D.,  for  twenty-nine 
years  Secretary  of  the  Society.  Dr.  Holdich  had  been  for 
some  time  unable  to  perform  his  duties  because  of  partial 
blindness.  He  resigned  because  unwilling  to  be  a  Secretary 
in  name  only.  If  the  Managers  of  the  Society  can  rely 
upon  receiving  from  a  Secretary  at  a  moment's  notice  a 
well-digested  statement  of  policies  or  experiences  of  the 
Society,  the  Secretary  must  have  been  long  in  the  service. 
In  1878  the  service  of  three  great  Secretaries,  Milnor, 
Brigham  and  Holdich,  had  covered  the  sixty-two  years  of 


356  EVENTS  AND  EMERGENCIES     [1871-1891 

the  existence  of  the  Society,  each  inheriting  knowledge  and 
experience  from  his  predecessor  almost  as  Elisha  inherited 
his  master's  grace  and  power.  Dr.  Holdich  believed  that 
the  Society  must  penetrate  all  the  dark  places  of  the  home 
land,  and  to  the  Agencies  abroad  he  was  like  a  father. 
During  seven  years  before  his  withdrawal  he  made  known 
his  hopes  and  his  cherished  plans  to  Secretary  Gilman. 
Upon  the  resignation  of  Secretary  Holdich  the  Board  elected 
Rev.  Albert  S.  Hunt,  D.D.,  pastor  of  St.  James'  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  Brooklyn,  Secretary  of  the  Society. 
Dr.  Hunt  was  an  eloquent  speaker,  a  warm  lover  of  the 
Bible,  and  otherwise  eminently  fitted  for  this  position. 

The  Society  has  always  been  happy  in  its  Treasurers. 
\'ice-President  William  Whitlock  was  elected  to  that  office 
in  1840.  He  was  a  vestryman  and  warden  of  St.  George's 
Episcopal  Church  in  New  York,  at  the  time  of  his  appoint- 
ment as  Treasurer  being  owner  of  a  line  of  packets  between 
Havre  and  New  York.  A  picturesque  incident  of  this  part 
of  his  career  was  his  providing  and  fitting  out  at  his  own 
expense  the  ship  on  which  in  1824  Lafayette  came  from 
France  to  New  York  when  he  visited  the  United  States  as 
its  guest.  Mr.  Whitlock's  active  service  as  Treasurer  con- 
tinued, but  for  two  years  of  absence  in  Europe,  until  his 
death  in  1875.  The  Society  was  peculiarly  dear  to  him  and 
in  its  financial  arrangements  he  did  much  to  promote  its 
prosperity.  The  actual  handling  of  funds  and  keeping  of 
accounts  was  the  duty  of  an  Assistant  Treasurer;  Henry 
Fisher,  Esq.,  having  served  in  this  capacity  from  1853  until 
his  death  in  1869,  and  A.  L.  Taylor,  Esq.,  having  been  ap- 
pointed to  the  office  in  1869.  After  Mr.  Taylor  had  per- 
formed his  duties  with  fidelity  during  seventeen  years,  in 
1886  he  resigned.  At  this  time  an  amendment  was  made 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  Society  by  which  the  office  of 
Assistant  Treasurer  was  abolished.  When  the  Annual 
Meeting  took  this  action,  William  Foulke,  Esq.,  a  vestryman 
and  Treasurer  of  St.  George's  Episcopal  Church,  was  elected 
Treasurer  and  has  given  his  whole  time  to  the  heavy  duties 
of  the  office.  At  the  time  of  his  election  he  was  a  merchant 
in  the  West  Indies  trade  as  his  father  and  grandfather  were 
before  him. 


CHAPTER  XLI 

MAKING  THE  BIBLE  SPEAK  WITH   TONGUES 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Society  its  greatest  work  was  the 
production  of  Bibles.  The  Society's  work  to-day  would  be 
simple  if  Hmited  to  the  production  of  books  to  be  handed  out 
at  the  door  of  the  Bible  House.  The  Board  very  shortly 
felt,  however,  responsibility  for  seeing  that  the  Bibles  were 
circulated,  and  after  the  first  year  or  two,  distribution  was 
added  to  production  as  the  Society's  essential  duty.  By  and 
by,  when  American  missionaries  abroad  began  to  wrestle 
with  the  difficulties  of  their  undertaking  as  in  a  prize  ring 
among  thousands  who  hoped  to  witness  their  defeat,  it  was 
found  that  in  a  large  part  of  the  earth  translation  must 
have  precedence  over  production  and  distribution.  This 
was  an  almost  unexpected  revelation. 

These  words  therefore  —  production,  translation  and  dis- 
tribution—  stand  in  the  history  of  the  Society  like  mile- 
stones of  development.  Translation,  printing,  distribution 
are  all  equally  essential  enterprises  of  a  Bible  Society,  mak- 
ing the  beneficent  scheme  complete.  The  extent  of  the 
enterprise  has  ever  led  to  confidence  in  the  triumph  of  the 
gospel  through  enabling  its  words  of  power  to  penetrate  the 
minds  of  people  using  the  different  languages. 

Language  naturally  lends  itself  to  evil,  and  until  it  is 
Christianised  it  resists  the  translator  like  a  living  enemy. 
Translation  of  the  Bible  is  the  capture  of  a  whole  language 
by  aliens  who  lay  hands  on  it  and  force  it  to  speak  the  mes- 
sages of  God.  The  fitting  words  have  to  be  almost  torn  by 
force  from  the  speech  of  the  common  folk  that  the  sentences 
may  find  welcome  in  the  heart  of  the  child  even  though  they 
nourish  the  life  of  the  sage.  In  the  words  of  the  Rev.  W. 
J.  Tucker,  "  Christianity  is  thus  forcing  itself  into  languages 

357 


358  MAKING  THE  BIBLE  SPEAK  [1871- 

without  letters,  into  languages  elaborated  and  defended  by 
pagan  or  Moslem  literature,  and  the  privilege  of  Pentecost 
is  ours.  By  the  patient  effort  of  the  church,  Christianity 
tries  to  do  what  at  Pentecost  the  apostles  did  through 
miraculous  power.  Those  who  succeed  in  this  effort  are 
men  the  fame  of  whose  translations  will  exceed  that  of  the 
greatest  heroic  deeds  of  arms !  " 

In  pagan  languages  the  translation  of  the  Bible  meets 
resistance  perhaps  most  difficult  to  overcome.  Words  and 
phrases  long  hallowed  in  our  thoughts  by  devout  associa- 
tions, such  as  the  names  for  God,  grace,  faith,  sanctification, 
holiness,  peace,  love,  joy,  and  the  glories  of  the  heavenly 
world,  can  be  found  perhaps  in  such  a  language,  but  have 
''  very  meagre  meanings  "  put  into  them  by  many  of  the 
people  who  read  them.  In  the  Japanese  there  was  a  similar 
lack  of  words  by  which  to  express  spiritual  ideas.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Greene  wrote,  "  Even  the  long  and  involved  sen- 
tences of  the  Pauline  Epistles  are  often  easier  to  manage 
than  some  of  the  apparently  simple  verses  of  St.  John's 
Gospel  in  making  the  translation."  A  further  difficulty  en- 
countered by  the  missionaries  in  Japan  was  a  perverted 
taste  of  the  Japanese  literary  men.  They  revered  Chinese 
as  the  only  language  worthy  of  printing.  It  has  no  affinity 
to  Japanese,  but  because  it  was  regarded  with  veneration  by 
Japanese  scholars,  it  might  easily  be  suffered  to  dilute  the 
Japanese  flavour  of  the  version,  besides  being  unintelligible 
to  common  folk.  The  same  difficulty  was  encountered  in 
Turkish,  where  there  was  no  proper  literary  standard, 
Turkish  writers  regarding  Arabic  with  profound  respect, 
although  it  has  no  affinity  to  the  Turkish  language,  so  that 
it  was  brought  into  some  early  versions  of  Scriptures  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  make  them  unintelligible  to  the  common 
people.  Obstacles  of  this  class  require  patient  vigilance  on 
the  part  of  the  translator.  Dr.  Gundert  of  the  Basle  Mis- 
sionary Society  remarks :  "  Every  language  is  a  work  of 
art  and  an  inexhaustible  mine.  The  missionary^  must  listen 
with  his  ears  pricked  up.  He  must  be  swift  to  hear  and 
slow  to  speak;  and  must  learn  to  admire  beauties  in  the 
language  before  he  dares  to  finish  any  piece  of  translation." 
This  implies  that  knowledge  of  the  every  day  native  idiom 


1891]     AN  ALPHABET  FOR  THE  DAKOTAS       359 

is  most  important;  and  only  a  native  can  handle  the  native 
idiom  properly. 

An  illustration  of  the  method  used  to  overcome  the  il- 
literacy behind  which  a  language  is  often  fortified,  is  seen 
in  the  story  of  the  Dakota  Bible.  Rev.  Dr.  T.  S.  William- 
son went  to  Lacquiparle  in  1835.  He  found  himself  in  the 
midst  of  Indians,  some  of  whom  had  a  smattering  of  Eng- 
lish which  enabled  them  to  transact  business,  and  the  best 
instrument  for  acquiring  the  language  (for  he  had  to  make 
his  own  dictionary  and  grammar)  was  a  half-breed  fur 
trader  named  Renville.  This  man  took  an  interest  in  Dr. 
Williamson's  mission.  The  first  question  to  be  settled  was 
how  to  write  Dakota,  which  knew  no  alphabet.  Dr.  Wil- 
liamson took  the  Roman  alphabet,  threw  out  x,  v,  r,  g,  j,  f, 
and  c,  which  were  not  required  for  Dakota  words,  giving 
to  the  discarded  letters  sounds  of  "clicks,"  etc.,  which  could 
not  be  rendered  by  Roman  letters.  As  a  beginning  of  Bible 
translation  Dr.  Williamson  worked  day  after  day  for  two 
or  three  winters  in  Mr.  Renville's  great  warehouse  warmed 
by  a  fire  of  logs  standing  on  end  in  the  huge  fireplace.  He 
would  read  verse  by  verse  from  the  French  Bible.  Mr. 
Renville  would  then  give  the  verse  in  Dakota,  Dr.  William- 
son writing  it  down  from  the  trapper's  lips.  By  that  pro- 
cess translations  of  the  Gospels  of  St.  Mark  and  St.  John 
were  completed.  Dr.  Williamson  had  been  joined  in  1837 
by  Dr.  S.  R.  Riggs,  and  when  both  had  learned  some 
Dakota,  they  compared  this  tentative  translation  with  the 
original  Greek.  It  was  not  until  1843  that  they  ventured 
to  offer  the  Society  a  corrected  gospel  to  be  printed.  The 
translation  of  the  Dakota  Bible  from  that  uncertain_  be- 
ginning proceeded  during  nearly  forty  years.  Dr.  William- 
son did  not  live  to  see  the  work  finished  in  1879.  As  it 
approached  its  end,  he  remarked  that  in  forty-four  years 
he  had  built  four  houses.  Two  of  those  houses  had  fallen 
or  been  destroyed;  the  other  two  would  soon  go.  But  in 
his  labour  on  the  Bible  he  had  shared  in  building  up  human 
souls.     That  work  would  remain  forever. 

Another  fact  which  resists  the  turning  of  an  unwilling 
language  to  the  service  of  the  Bible  is  the  great  expense  of 
the  work.     The  translation  of  the  Japanese  New  Testament 


36o  MAKING  THE  BIBLE  SPEAK  [1871^ 

was  completed  in  1879  ^"<^  ^^  was  published  early  in  1880, 
when  a  public  thanksgiving  service  was  held  by  Christians 
in  Tokio.  The  American  Bible  Society  had  paid  about 
$4,000  a  year  for  some  five  years,  for  translation  and  edi- 
torial work  alone,  upon  this  Testament.  The  printing  of 
it  was  also  at  the  expense  of  the  Society.^ 

In  1882  the  Rev.  I.  G.  Bliss,  D.D.,  the  Society's  Agent 
for  the  Levant,  reported  that  in  twenty-five  years  since  his 
taking  up  that  agency  the  cost  to  the  Society  of  translation 
and  editorial  work  in  Turkey  upon  different  versions  was 
$64,955.  The  versions  which  entailed  so  great  expense 
were  Armenian,  Turkish,  Hebrew-Spanish,  and  Bulgarian. 
The  last  named  Bible  was  translated  by  Rev.  Dr.  Elias 
Riggs  with  the  assistance  of  two  native  scholars,  and  in 
the  New  Testament  with  the  aid,  as  already  mentioned,  of 
the  Rev.  A.  L.  Long,  D.D.  The  New  Testament  only  was 
printed  at  the  joint  expense  of  the  American  and  British 
Societies.  The  version  as  a  whole  was  paid  for  by  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  the  volumes  required  for 
the  supply  of  American  missionaries  being  bought  from  that 
Society  as  needed. 

The  work  of  promoting  translations  for  missionaries  car- 
ries the  Society  far  afield.  In  1882,  when  Korea  was  be- 
ginning to  open  its  gates  a  little,  so  that  missionaries  could 
hope  for  freedom  to  enter,  an  educated  Korean,  of  whom  we 
shall  hear  more  in  another  chapter,  was  found  in  Japan  who 
had  been  converted  and  was  eager  to  make  translations  of 
the  Gospels  into  his  own  language.  These  were  printed 
by  the  Society  and  served  the  earliest  American  mission- 
aries in  Korea.  At  the  same  time  the  Society  was  helping 
Presbyterian  missionaries  in  upper  Siam  to  issue  a  trans- 
lation of  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  in  the  Laos  language,  while 
nearer  home  steps  were  taken  for  a  revision  of  the  old 
Portuguese  version  in  use  in  Brazil  and  the  Rev.  H.  B. 
Pratt  of  Bucaramanga  in  Colombia  was  engaged  in  1885 
after  some  attempts  at  revision  of  the  Valera  Spanish  Ver- 
sion, to  make  a  new  Spanish  translation. 

1  Of  course  the  work  was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  other  Bible 
Societies  also.  The  Agent,  in  fact,  was  authorised  to  allow  any  re- 
sponsible party  to  reprint  the  Japanese  Testament  on  condition  of 
making  no  changes  in  the  text. 


1891]  IN  CHINA  AND  JAPAN  361 

In  1873  ^  great  work  for  China  was  accomplished  in  the 
completion  of  the  Old  Testament  in  Mandarin  translated 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Schereschewski  at  the  expense  of  the  So- 
ciety, and  printed  for  the  Society  on  the  press  of  the 
American  Board's  Mission  in  Peking.  Bishop  Stevens  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  speaking  of  this  achievement  by  Dr.  Scher- 
eschewski, a  minister  of  his  own  church,  said :  "  The 
grandest  conquests  of  the  world's  mightiest  heroes  sink 
into  littleness  beside  the  work  which  our  faithful  missionary 
had  done  when  he  made  the  Bible  speak  in  Mandarin  and 
herald  out  salvation  over  half  a  hemisphere."  During  this 
period  besides  some  local  colloquial  versions,  the  Chinese 
New  Testament  in  Easy  Wenli  was  prepared  as  an  experi- 
ment at  the  expense  of  the  Society  by  Dr.  Blodgett,  Bishop 
Burdon  and  others.  In  May  1890  a  general  missionary 
conference  at  Shanghai  decided  upon  a  revision  of  the 
Chinese  styles  known  as  Wenli,  Easy  Wenli,  and  Mandarin 
in  order  to  have  a  union  standard  version  of  the  Bible  in 
these  forms.  This  noble  thought  was  approved  by  the 
American,  British  and  Scottish  Bible  Societies  which  agreed 
jointly  to  share  the  expense  of  this  new  version  of  the 
Bible  for  China. 

One  of  the  important  translations  in  the  promotion  of 
which  the  Society  has  had  a  share  is  that  already  mentioned 
as  proceeding  in  Japan  during  this  period.  After  a  good 
deal  of  experimental  work  by  Dr.  Verbeck,  Dr.  Hepburn, 
Bishop  Williams,  Mr.  Goble  and  others,  a  conference  of 
missionaries  in  1872  set  apart  as  responsible  translators  and 
revisers  for  the  New  Testament,  Rev.  S.  R.  Brown,  D.D., 
of  the  Reformed  (Dutch)  Mission,  Dr.  J.  C.  Hepburn  of 
the  Presbyterian  Mission,  and  Rev.  D.  C.  Greene,  of  the 
American  Board's  mission.  Rev.  R.  S.  Maclay  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Mission  was  added  to  the  Committee 
and  they  finished  the  work  in  1880,  having  had  notable  as- 
sistance from  Mr.  Matsuyama  and  other  Japanese  scholars. 
The  year  1889  will  always  be  marked  in  the  church  history 
of  Japan  as  the  year  when,  after  fifteen  years  of  patient 
waiting,  the  whole  Bible  was  at  last  published  in  Japanese. 
Rev.  John  Piper  and  Rev.  P.  K.  Fyson,  both  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  were  added  to  the  Committee  for  this 


362  MAKING  THE  BIBLE  SPEAK  [1871- 

work.  The  great  expense  of  translating  the  Old  Testament 
was  divided  between  the  three  Bible  Societies ;  two-fifths  to 
the  American  Society,  two-fifths  to  the  British  and  Foreign, 
and  one-fifth  to  the  National  Bible  Society  of  Scotland. 

Another  great  translation  aided  and  printed  by  the  Society 
was  the  one  made  by  American  missionaries  in  South  Africa 
for  those  tall  black  w^arriors  known  as  the  Zulus.  The  Zulu 
Bible  grew  up  through  many  years'  slow,  careful  work  by 
different  missionaries  of  the  American  Board.  The  New 
Testament  was  printed  on  the  mission  press  in  Natal  at  the 
expense  of  the  Bible  Society,  while  the  covers  for  binding 
it  were  made  at  the  Bible  House  in  New  York  and  shipped 
to  Africa  for  native  binders  to  apply.  When  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Old  Testament  was  complete,  t"he  manuscript 
was  brought  to  New  York  to  be  printed  at  the  Bible  House 
under  oversight  of  Rev.  Dr.  Pixley  of  the  Zulu  mission. 
This  version  was  important  not  only  for  the  missions  of 
the  American  Board  but  for  its  use  in  various  adjoining 
regions  occupied  by  Norwegian,  German  and  Scottish  mis- 
sionaries. North  of  Natal  during  this  period  the  American 
Board  missionaries,  B.  F.  Ousley  and  E.  H.  Richards,  pre- 
pared a  version  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  Tonga 
language ;  and  later  some  Gospels  in  the  Sheetswa  language 
translated  by  Rev.  B.  F.  Ousley  were  accepted  and  published 
by  the  Society. 

In  those  groups  of  islands  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  called  by 
the  one  convenient  name,  Micronesia,  a  considerable  trans- 
lation work  was  carried  on  by  the  missionaries  of  the 
American  Board  and  in  this  period  the  New  Testament  in 
the  language  of  the  Mortlock  Islanders,  translated  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Logan,  in  the  Ponape  language  translated  by  the 
Rev.  Alessrs.  Doane  and  Sturges,  and  the  New  Testament 
in  the  language  of  the  Marshall  Islands  translated  by  Rev. 
E.  M.  Pease,  were  made  ready,  and  finally  the  translation 
of  the  whole  Bible  into  the  language  of  the  Gilbert  Islands, 
by  Rev.  Hiram  Bingham,  was  finished  in  1890.  The  Gil- 
bert Islands  Bible  was  used  by  the  London  Missionary  So- 
ciety stations  in  islands  under  their  care  besides  the  ones 
for  which  it  was  designed.  Some  copies  were  called  for 
from  Samoa. 


1 891]  FOR  KURDS  AND  TELUGUS  363 

Some  experiments  were  made  in  beginning  a  version  of 
the  New  Testament  in  Kurdish  by  Rev.  Dr.  Andrus,  who 
by  long  residence  in  Mardin,  Turkey,  had  opened  relations 
with  various  tribes  in  that  vicinity.  The  Gospel  of  Mat- 
thew in  Kurdish  was  sent  to  various  scholars  for  criticism 
and  after  passing  this  test,  it  was  approved  for  printing.  A 
version  needed  for  the  Society's  Persian  field  was  in  the 
dialect  called  Azerbaijan  Turkish.  Rev.  Dr.  Wright  under- 
took the  work  but  died  before  much  had  been  done.  The 
well-known  ''  Tennesseean  in  Persia,"  Rev.  Dr.  S.  H.  Rhea, 
was  then  assigned  by  the  mission  to  the  task,  but  he  too  died 
shortly  afterward.  It  almost  seemed  as  if  a  divine  hand 
had  laid  a  ban  on  the  undertaking,  but  Rev.  Benjamin 
Labaree  in  1882  translated  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke  into 
Azerbaijan  Turkish  which  was  printed  at  Urumia  at  the 
expense  of  the  Society.  The  2,000  copies  printed  were  sold 
almost  immediately.  Work  upon  this  dialect  was  after- 
wards given  up  when  it  was  found  that  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  had  arranged  for  preparing  the  ver- 
sion. 

The  British  and  American  Societies  were  pleased  as 
builders  of  some  splendid  palace  in  uniting  forces  and  means 
and  prayers  for  translations  such  as  have  already  been  men- 
tioned or  for  a  revision  of  a  Bible  long  in  use  by  mission- 
aries from  both  nations,  as  in  the  case  of  the  version  which 
spoke  the  musical  language  of  the  Telugus  of  the  eastern 
parts  of  South  India.  Two  scholarly  men.  Rev.  Dr.  Jacob 
Chamberlain,  the  American,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Hay,  the  British 
representative,  and  others  carried  forward  this  revision  in 
this  period.  The  high  purpose  of  bettering  the  expression 
of  gospel  truths  unites  the  men  and  no  difference  of  na- 
tionaHty  or  of  creed  can  Hmit  their  free  sense  of  doing  the 
Master's  will,  or  their  content  in  doing  it  together  in  His 
name.  If  natives  of  the  country  had  possibly  suspected 
two  discordant  sects  in  the  Christian  teachers  from  England 
and  America  this  joint  work  upon  the  Telugu  Bible  re- 
moved the  suspicion. 

When  the  Bible  or  any  part  of  it  is  translated  so  as  to 
speak  in  an  alien  tongue  it  has  to  be  printed  that  it  may  give 
its  message  to  the  minds  of  thousands.     The  production  of 


364  MAKING  THE  BIBLE  SPEAK  [1871- 

printed  Scriptures  turns  one's  thought  toward  the  Bible 
House  in  New  York.  In  common  opinion  the  work  of  the 
Society  is  represented  by  the  Bibles  and  Testaments  in 
the  salesroom  window  or  continually  passing  out  of  the 
shipping  office  in  boxes  labelled  for  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
In  the  same  way  when  a  railroad  is  spoken  of,  people  think 
only  of  the  cars,  the  rails,  and  the  signal  lights  at  night. 
But  in  each  case  there  is  somewhere  a  center  where  may 
be  found  the  mind  and  soul  of  the  institution.  Thence  Hues 
go  out  in  all  directions  to  execute  plans  carefully  worked  out 
at  the  center.  The  maintenance  of  a  printing  establishment 
is  quite  incidental  to  the  work  of  the  Society,  but  the  main- 
tenance of  the  Bible  House  is  essential,  for  there  all  plans 
for  work  are  thought  out  and  decided. 

The  duty  of  studying  and  advising  the  Board  respecting 
translation  and  printing  various  versions,  for  instance,  is 
in  the  hands  of  a  committee  at  the  Bible  House  called  the 
Committee  on  Versions.  Of  the  choice  men  composing  it 
during  this  period  some  were  members  of  the  American 
Company  of  revisers  of  the  English  Bible  and  all  were  Bible 
scholars  and  linguists  from  different  religious  denomina- 
tions. The  undertaking  by  the  Society  of  enterprises  in 
languages  largely  depends  upon  the  recommendations  of 
this  important  Committee. 

Some  plans  of  administration  at  the  Bible  House  were 
changed  during  this  period.  Changes  were  made  by  the 
Legislature  of  New  York  in  the  charter  of  the  Society  giv- 
ing it  the  right  to  take  real-estate  given  it  by  devise.  A 
change  was  made  in  the  Constitution  of  the  Society,  also, 
in  consequence  of  a  new  law  of  the  state  which  required 
that  no  person  receiving  salary  from  a  benevolent  institu- 
tion shall  have  a  vote  in  its  management.  This  amendment 
to  the  Constitution  excluded  the  Secretaries  and  Treasurer 
from  voting  in  the  Board  of  Managers. 

Another  amendment  to  the  Constitution  was  introduced 
in  1877  because  of  changes  in  the  character  of  the  popula- 
tion since  the  organisation  of  the  Society.  The  seventh 
article  originally  provided  that  Directors  could  attend  and 
vote  at  all  meetings  of  the  Board  of  Managers,  while  the 
sixth  declared  that  any  one  subscribing  $150  at  one  time 


1891]     IMPROVEMENTS  AT  BIBLE  HOUSE        365 

should  be  a  Director  for  life.  A  criticism  of  the  Society, 
welcomed  as  it  should  be  by  men  who  are  above  seeking 
first  the  comfort  of  self-esteem,  secured  a  change.  Some 
one  speaking  disparagingly  of  the  Society  remarked  that 
atheists  or  Roman  Catholics  by  subscribing  comparatively 
small  sums  could  gain  control  of  the  Board  and  shut  up  the 
Bible  House.  The  statement  suggested  the  inference  that 
mere  payment  of  money  does  not  qualify  a  man  for  direc- 
tion of  a  Bible  Society.  So  this  weak  spot  in  the  Consti- 
tution was  mended,  the  seventh  article  being  altered  with 
notable  haste.  Directors  by  this  amendment  were  entitled 
to  attend  and  speak,  and  if  constituted  before  June  i,  1877, 
to  vote  at  meetings  of  the  Board. 

During  this  period  there  was  betterment,  also,  in  the 
making  of  books  at  the  Bible  House.  The  Committee  of 
Publication  was  composed  of  practical  business  men,  some 
of  them  the  heads  of  well  known  publishing  houses.  It 
aimed  at  efficiency  as  well  as  economy  in  the  manufacture 
of  books.  As  immigration  caused  increase  in  Scriptures 
in  foreign  languages,  electro-plates  of  the  Bible  were  im- 
ported from  Europe ;  newly  perfected  printing  presses  and 
machines  for  the  bindery  were  bought  and  substituted  for 
the  older  styles  and  finally  in  1889  the  Bible  House  was 
fully  repaired,  elevators  and  other  improvements  were  in- 
stalled, and  an  entire  sixth  floor  was  added  to  the  building, 
without,  however,  using  any  money  contributed  for  Bible 
distribution.  A  mortgage  for  $100,000  was  executed  as 
security  for  a  loan  to  be  repaid  by  rents  from  rooms  not 
required  by  the  Society. 

The  printing  of  Scriptures  in  the  Bible  House  included 
in  the  main  those  necessary  for  use  in  the  United  States. 
From  50,000  to  100,000  volumes,  however,  were  annually 
sent  abroad,  chiefly  to  Latin  America  in  Spanish  and  Portu- 
guese. In  1876  a  special  reference  Bible  known  as  the 
Centennial  Bible  was  issued  as  a  souvenir  of  the  one 
hundredth  year  of  the  American  Republic.  About  the  same 
time  a  beginning  was  made  of  publishing  a  new  kind  of 
embossed  Scriptures  for  the  blind  by  a  system  known  as 
the  New  York  Point  Print.  The  presses  were  busy  during 
the  whole  period  with  printing  Scriptures   for  Africa  in 


366  MAKING  THE  BIBLE  SPEAK  [1871- 

Zulu,  Benga  and  Mpongwe.  In  June,  1883,  the  first  large 
shipment  of  the  Zulu  Bible  went  out  of  the  door  of  the 
Bible  House  on  its  way  to  South  Africa.  It  consisted  of 
12,000  volumes  in  all.  There  was  also  printing  for  the 
Indians,  portions  of  the  Muskokee  or  Creek,  and  Dakota 
Scriptures  being  printed  as  the  translations  of  the  Bible 
went  on  towards  completion,  and  reprints  of  Scriptures  in 
the  Ojibwa  of  which  the  first  edition  was  printed  in  1844 
and  the  second  in  1856,  and  also  a  reprint  of  the  Gospel  of 
St.  Matthew  in  the  language  of  the  Nez  Perces  Indians. 
These  were  the  Indians  who  in  1832  sent  a  deputation  from 
the  territory  of  Oregon  1,500  miles  to  St.  Louis,  vainly 
seeking  there  the  "  book  of  God  "  which  they  had  somehow 
learned  that  the  white  man  has.  It  was  a  point  of  interest 
that  the  proofs  of  this  new  edition  as  they  came  from  the 
press  at  the  Bible  House  were  corrected  by  the  Rev.  H.  H. 
Spaulding,  the  translator  of  the  original  edition  issued  in 
1845.  A  further  illustration  of  the  fact  that  Indian  lan- 
guages had  been  made  to  praise  God  appeared  in  1857  at  a 
conference  at  Vinita  in  the  Indian  territory.  One  of  the 
ministers  read  from  the  Bible  in  English,  another  the  same 
verses  in  Chickasaw,  the  next  in  Cherokee,  then  one  read 
in  Muskokee  or  Creek,  and  another  in  the  Delaware  lan- 
guage. The  version  of  the  New  Testament  in  ^luskokee 
or  Creek  was  finished  in  1886.  It  was  the  work  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  A.  E.  W.  Robertson. 

While  the  presses  in  the  Bible  House  were  thus  kept  un- 
ceasingly at  work,  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  Scriptures  were 
being  printed  for  the  Society  throughout  this  period  at 
Constantinople,  Beirut,  Paris,  Berlin,  Vienna,  Bremen, 
Stockholm,  Euchow,  Shanghai,  Lucknow,  Lodiana,  Bang- 
kok, and  Yokohama.  These  Scriptures  were  printed  on 
local  presses  generally  owned  by  missions  and  largely  sup- 
ported by  the  Bible  Society.  An  exception  to  the  rule  was 
the  press  at  Beirut,  where  the  Society  ownea  an  expensive 
electrotyping  plant  and  a  fine  printing  press  with  its  equip- 
ment which  had  been  sent  out  for  printing  the  Arabic  Scrip- 
tures. In  1878  the  Board  transferred  by  gift  to  the  Pres- 
byterian Board  of  Eoreign  Missions  this  printing  and  elec- 
trotyping apparatus  at  Beirut,  valued  at  $16,094.61. 


1891]      PARTNERS  IN  THE  GREAT  WORK         367 

This  class  of  the  Society's  labours,  little  known  in  any  de- 
tail, was  continually  calling  for  money.  The  problem  of 
cost  constantly  hampered  the  Board.  But  the  Society  was 
called  into  existence  in  order  to  solve  just  such  problems 
which  were  beyond  the  ability  of  the  separate  and  local 
Bible  Societies.  When,  therefore,  the  appeals  of  the  So- 
ciety are  heeded,  every  contributor  along  with  all  workers 
of  the  Society  who  labour  with  brain  or  with  hand  is  a  trans- 
lator or  producer  or  distributor  of  books.  Each  one  shares 
with  the  men  at  the  Bible  House  or  at  outposts  on  the 
other  side  of  the  globe  the  "  Well  done  "  which  rewards 
every  sincere  effort  for  the  glory  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XLII 

DISTRIBUTION    IN   THE    HOME   LAND 

Bishop  Janes  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  for- 
merly Secretary  of  the  Bible  Societ}^  was  the  author  of  an 
address  to  the  people  which  on  the  decision  in  1866  to 
undertake  a  third  General  Supply  of  the  destitute  in  the 
land,  was  sent  out  from  the  Board  of  Managers.  This 
address  set  forth  the  belief  of  Christians  that  to  make  uni- 
versal the  knowledge  of  God,  His  will  and  His  grace  in 
Jesus  Christ,  is  the  first  great  interest  of  the  nation ;  yet 
while  the  Society  in  fifty  years  had  distributed,  mostly  in 
this  country,  over  twenty-one  millions  of  volumes  of  Scrip- 
ture; while  more  than  thirty  commercial  publishers  were 
sending  out  each  year  some  400,000  volumes  of  Scripture : 
and  while  large  importations  of  Bibles  from  England  and 
Europe  were  constantly  adding  to  the  stock,  a  recent  exam- 
ination showed  an  amazing  and  alarming  destitution  of 
Scriptures  in  the  United  States.  The  case  of  the  coloured 
people  in  the  South  was  an  instance.  Many  thousands  of 
former  slaves  were  learning  to  read,  ought  to  be  supplied 
with  Scriptures  lest  they  forget  that  God  is  their  Master, 
but  faced  a  famine  of  the  Word.  The  white  people  of  the 
South  were  still  unsupplied  with  Bibles,  notwithstanding 
all  efforts  to  help  them.  In  three  wards  of  such  a  city  as 
Washington,  D.  C,  1,400  families  had  been  found  destitute 
of  the  Book  of  God.  Immigrants,  Indians,  and  further- 
more thousands  of  the  old  stock  even  in  the  oldest  states, 
were  living  without  association  with  the  great  teachers  of 
the  Bible.  The  rapid  natural  increase  of  population  and 
the  continuous  arrival  of  immigrants  explains  in  part  why 
such  destitution  existed.  If  distribution  is  intermitted  for 
one  day  destitution  is  visibly  increased. 

The  question  sometimes  arises,  What  is  the  real  advan- 

368 


1871-1891]    UNSOWN  SEED  DOES  NOT  GROW  369 

tage  of  such  strenuous  effort  to  increase  the  circulation  of 
the  Bible  in  our  land?  The  answer  of  course  is,  Seed  does 
not  grow  unless  it  is  sown.  This  form  of  work  supplies  a 
need  of  the  whole  nation.  John  Bunyan  used  to  say  with 
what  now  seems  prophetic  insight,  "  Want  of  reverence  for 
the  word  of  God  is  the  ground  of  all  the  disorders  that  are 
in  the  heart,  life,  and  conversation  of  Christian  communion." 
What  happens  when  the  people  have  not  the  Bible  may  be 
very  properly  deduced  from  investigations  which  social 
workers  have  made  into  the  results  of  carelessness  about 
moral  and  religious  training.  Dr.  Harris  produced  a  pro- 
found impression  in  1875  by  giving  the  history  of  a  small 
girl  many  years  before  left  homeless  and  without  education 
in  a  country  village  in  the  state  of  New  York.  Her  de- 
scendants in  less  than  one  hundred  years  numbered  673  per- 
sons, almost  all  of  them  criminals,  paupers,  or  prostitutes. 
The  neglect  of  that  little  girl  cost  the  county  and  the  state 
thousands  of  dollars,  besides  causing  untold  damage  to  the 
whole  community  in  its  morals  as  well  as  in  its  property. 

Such  an  investigation  by  contrast  shows  the  beneficent 
quality  of  Bible  distribution.  The  nobility  of  this  work 
comes  from  above,  but  responsibility  for  effective  distribu- 
tion of  the  Scriptures  in  the  United  States  does  not  rest 
upon  the  Society  and  its  Auxiliaries,  but  upon  the  Christian 
people  of  the  land. 

The  third  General  Supply  of  the  destitute  in  the  United 
States  was  completed  as  fully  as  such  an  enterprise  can  be 
completed,  in  1872.  The  work  had  been  done  mainly  by 
the  Auxiliaries,  the  Society  employing  colporteurs  under 
the  direction  of  its  agents  in  parts  of  the  country  where 
settlers  were  few  and  the  idea  of  an  Auxiliary  Bible  Society 
had  not  yet  taken  root.  In  1872,  at  the  end  of  five  years 
of  effort,  it  was  found  that  2,990,119  families  had  been 
visited,  283,186  were  found  destitute,  of  which  228,807 
families  were  willing  to  take  up  the  reading  of  the  Bible ; 
not  included  in  these  families,  213,302  individuals  more  had 
been  supplied  with  a  Bible  or  Testament  by  sale  or  gift. 
These  figures,  large  as  they  were,  were  admittedly  incom- 
plete. Moreover,  253,757  volumes  not  included  in  the 
statement  above  had  been  granted  by  the  Society  and  dis- 


370  DISTRIBUTION  IN  HOME  LAND       [1871- 

tributed  in  different  parts  of  the  country  by  the  American 
Sunday  School  Union,  the  American  Tract  Society,  and  the 
denominational  book  and  tract  societies.  Five  years  of 
effort  had  accomplished  a  great  work  for  the  nation. 

In  any  extensive  national  enterprise,  criticism  of  the 
workers  is  natural  and  not  always  cautious  about  its  ground. 
Swift's  apothegm  applies  in  many  cases :  "  Censure  is  a 
tax  a  man  pays  to  the  public  for  being  eminent."  Although 
the  executive  officers  had  no  vote  on  the  Society's  policy, 
they  felt  keenly  certain  public  strictures  upon  its  manage- 
ment during  the  first  decade  of  this  period.  In  1873  one 
such  criticism  advanced  by  an  Auxiliary  Society  in  New 
Jersey  and  shared  by  some  ecclesiastical  bodies  in  Central 
New  York,  was  that  the  Board  of  Managers  ought  to  let 
its  books  be  distributed  by  pastors  and  by  denominational 
Societies  already  engaged  in  book  publication,  so  saving 
the  expense  of  Agents  and  colporteurs.  In  actual  fact, 
the  Society  had  learned  by  painful  experience  that  while 
help  in  distribution  is  always  rendered  by  pastors  and  de- 
nominational Book  and  Tract  Societies,  large  areas  would 
be  left  untouched  unless  the  Bible  Society  explored  and 
supplied  them. 

Nevertheless  willingness  to  experiment  with  measures  of 
economy  led  the  Society  in  1875  to  diminish  the  number  of 
its  District  Superintendents.  In  that  year  Rev.  Dr.  Ward 
and  Rev.  W.  R.  Long  in  New  York  State,  Rev.  Mr.  Pearce 
in  Kentucky,  and  Rev.  S.  P.  Whitten  in  Western  Tennessee 
and  Northern  Mississippi  retired  from  the  service  where 
they  had  been  remarkably  successful.  Rev.  H.  H.  Benson 
of  Indiana,  Rev.  C.  A.  Bolles  of  South  Carolina,  Rev.  W. 
Herr  of  Ohio,  Rev.  J.  Mosser  of  Illinois,  Rev.  W.  A.  Parks 
of  Georgia,  Rev.  W.  B.  Rankin  of  Tennessee,  and  Rev.  S. 
Reynolds  of  Wisconsin,  retired  the  following  year.  More 
responsibility  was  thus  thrown  on  the  stronger  Auxiliaries 
and  the  fields  of  the  remaining  Superintendents  were  en- 
larged. 

Again  the  Society  was  assailed  as  wasteful  of  the  people's 
money  because  the  price  at  which  its  books  were  sold  had 
never  covered  the  cost  of  distributing  them.  The  least 
reflection  would  reveal  the  injustice  of  such  an  attack.     The 


1891]  METHODS  AND  MANAGEMENT  371 

very  object  of  the  Society  is  to  supply  the  careless  who 
neglect  the  Bible  and  the  poor  who  do  not  patronise  book 
stores  which  include  in  their  prices  profit  as  well  as  ex- 
penses. Pungent  articles  later  attacked  the  Society  be- 
cause it  would  not  publish  ''  helps "  desired  by  Sunday 
School  teachers.  The  crudeness  of  this  criticism  was  ap- 
parent, also,  for  as  soon  as  the  Society  should  begin  to  pub- 
lish notes  and  comments  on  the  Bible  it  would  break  the 
harmony  between  the  Methodist,  Presbyterian,  Lutheran, 
Baptist,  and  other  members  of  the  Board. 

A  later  series  of  strictures  touched  the  character  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Board.  The  fancied  grievance  of  a  man  in  New 
England  who  had  eaten  the  bread  of  the  Society  found  ex- 
pression in  a  bald  charge  that  the  reports  of  the  Society  and 
the  financial  statements  of  the  Treasurer  were  untrust- 
worthy, wilfully  concealing  assets.  These  charges  which 
came,  by  the  way,  from  parties  not  contributors  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  Society,  were  repeated  with  keen  enjoyment  and 
impromptu  variations  by  secular  newspapers  in  New  Eng- 
land. This  gave  opportunity  to  some  of  the  New  England 
Auxiliaries  for  criticising  the  rule  that  limits  the  Society's 
work  to  "  increasing  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures."  In 
the  eyes  of  the  critics  the  Society's  colporteurs  were 
"  mere  book  peddlers."  One  of  these  Auxiliaries  employed 
men  in  behalf  of  the  churches  to  take  a  religious  census  of 
country  districts,  and  even  sent  missionaries  on  evangelistic 
campaigns. 

A  belittling  of  the  value  of  Bible  distribution  underlay 
this  turning  of  a  local  Bible  Society  to  general  Home  mis- 
sion operations.  The  view  of  the  men  who  organised  the 
Society,  on  the  other  hand,  was  that  supply  of  Scriptures 
to  the  needy  and  persuasion  of  the  careless  to  read  the 
Bible  would  fully  occupy  its  energies.  A  Bible  Society, 
too,  could  not  support  preachers  by  contributions  from  dif- 
ferent denominations,  since  it  would  have  to  defend  one 
and  another  from  the  charge  of  partisanship.  Here  a  direct 
issue  was  made  between  the  Board  and  its  critics.  From 
1878  to  1882  this  campaign  was  pressed,  now  against  the 
policy  and  now  the  personality  of  the  Managers.  As  to 
the  reports  of  the  Treasurer,  nothing  in  them  was  defective 


Zy2  DISTRIBUTION  IN  HOME  LAND       [1871- 

or  unintelligible  to  men  having  some  acquaintance  with 
book-keeping.  Yet  the  attacks  undoubtedly  had  effect  in 
diminishing  current  receipts.  The  Board  could  only  go 
forward  patiently  following  the  course  fixed  by  the  Consti- 
tution, and  approved  by  contributors.  But  like  sincere  men 
who  put  their  best  into  all  their  doings,  the  members  of  the 
Board  questioned  every  department  of  work  at  the  Bible 
House  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  critics.  The  Publica- 
tion Committee  called  in  important  publishing  houses  to  get 
their  opinion  of  the  efficiency  of  their  manufacturing  de- 
partment. It  even  induced  publishers  to  consider  on  what 
terms  they  could  contract  to  produce  the  Society's  books. 
The  Committees  on  Finance,  Distribution,  Publication,  and 
Agencies  jointly  studied  during  many  months  the  whole 
subject  of  production  and  distribution. 

Some  members  of  the  Board  felt  that  the  more  finely 
bound  Scriptures  ought  to  be  sold  at  a  rate  which  would 
bring  a  profit  to  the  Bible  Society.  The  expression  of  this 
idea  was :  "  The  pearl  itself  is  above  all  price.  We  should 
not  make  merchandise  of  that ;  but  only  of  the  casket  which 
contains  it  and  which  adds  nothing  to  the  intrinsic  value  of 
the  treasure  within."  The  calm  judgment  of  the  Managers, 
however,  obliged  them  to  reject  this  suggestion.  The  re- 
port of  1884  showed  that  the  issues  of  the  Society  in  the 
United  States  were  1,357,051  volumes,  costing  $414,000. 
Out  of  this  total  17,604  volumes,  costing  $29,747,  were 
bound  in  cheaper  leather  or  in  cloth,  with  gilt  edges,  and 
1,235,460  volumes,  costing  $298,295,  were  in  cloth  binding 
with  plain  edges.  This  last  named  class  of  books  repre- 
sented the  attainment  by  the  Society  of  its  main  purpose. 
This  mass  of  books  of  the  cheaper  class  supplied  the  desti- 
tute. Any  attempt  to  make  profit  through  elegantly  bound 
Scriptures  would  tend  to  divert  attention  from  the  great 
needy  class  to  supply  which  the  Society  was  called  into 
being.  In  its  appeal  to  the  public  for  support  of  the  fourth 
General  Supply  the  Board  had  this  helpless  class  in  mind 
when  it  said :  "  We  are  no  longer  a  homogeneous  people, 
but  have  gathered  into  our  midst  representatives  of  all  na- 
tions. A  grave  responsibility  rests  on  the  Society  at  this 
time  to  enter  upon  a  distribution  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 


1891]  AMERICA  A  MISSION  FIELD  373 

largely  in  excess  of  any  former  effort  of  this  kind  under- 
taken in  the  United  States."  The  country  was  rapidly  be- 
coming a  foreign  mission  field. 

A  great  obstacle  to  such  a  distribution  of  the  Bible  is 
diversity  in  language,  little  appreciated  by  the  average  by- 
stander. In  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  the  Bishop  of  Bath  and 
Wells  once  preached  a  sermon  on  the  results  of  Bible  So- 
ciety labours.  After  speaking  of  the  great  multitude  which 
he  saw  in  his  mind's  eye,  and  whom  he  could  imagine  speak- 
ing discordant  tongues  in  his  very  ears,  he  said :  "  As  I 
look,  there  arises  in  the  midst  of  them  a  fair  figure  crowned 
with  charity,  girded  with  knowledge,  and  clothed  with 
Christian  Faith.  A  great  chest  is  at  her  feet  which  she 
unlocks,  and  opens,  and  from  which  she  draws  forth  count- 
less volumes  of  great  price.  Without  distinction  of  race 
or  creed,  of  barbarian  or  Scythian,  bond  or  free,  she  dis- 
tributes them  to  all  nations  and  peoples  around  her,  and  as 
each  opens  the  book  he  has  received  he  finds  it  a  copy  of  the 
word  of  God,  uttered  many  hundred  years  ago  but  now 
written  in  the  tongue  wherein  he  was  born.  And  as  I 
watch  those  who  receive  this  precious  boon  —  whether  the 
process  takes  years  or  centuries  matters  not  —  I  see  a  grad- 
ual and  most  blessed  change.  The  knowledge  of  truth  takes 
the  place  of  ignorance,  superstition  and  error.  Oppression 
and  cruelty  yield  to  justice  and  mercy.  Christian  civilisa- 
tion springs  up  in  the  barren  wilderness.  Such  an  image 
represents  I  believe  fairly  the  work  of  the  Bible  Society." 

Something  of  what  the  Society  was  doing  for  foreigners 
in  the  United  States  was  told  as  concretely  if  less  beauti- 
fully to  an  audience  at  a  Bible  meeting  in  Philadelphia.  It 
was  with  utter  amazement  that  the  congregation  listened 
when  different  people,  mostly  foreigners,  came  to  the  front 
of  the  platform,  read  verses  from  the  Bible  in  twenty-seven 
different  languages,  and  thus  made  clear  what  the  Bible 
could  do  for  aliens  both  in  America  and  in  their  own  birth- 
lands. 

For  the  fourth  General  Supply  the  Society  sent  colpor- 
teurs of  its  own  into  sparsely  settled  fields.  A  colporteur 
is  a  Christian  who  is  convinced  that  the  Bible  can  change 
the  bent  of  mankind.     From  experience  he  knows  that  un- 


374  DISTRIBUTION  IN  HOME  LAND      [1871- 

less  the  Bible  is  established  in  new  settlements,  the  tavern, 
brothel,  and  gambling  house  will  pre-empt  the  town-site. 
Like  a  homesteader  in  a  primeval  forest  who  has  only  an 
axe  wherewith  to  clear  his  acres,  he  may  be  impeded  but  not 
discouraged  by  the  magnitude  of  his  task.  A  colporteur  in 
Florida  describes  a  typical  day's  work.  He  travelled 
twenty-five  miles  in  woods  full  of  undergrowth,  stumps,  and 
also  snakes.  In  the  first  house  he  came  to  the  family  had 
an  old  Bible  and  did  not  need  any  of  his.  Five  miles 
farther  the  family  had  no  Bible  and  bought  one  for  twenty- 
four  eggs.  Six  miles  beyond  this  no  one  in  the  house  knew 
how  to  read  and  none  could  understand  need  of  a  Bible. 
At  the  next  house  the  colporteur  found  a  Testament,  from 
which  two-thirds  of  the  pages  were  missing.  To  this  fam- 
ily he  sold  a  Bible  for  one  hen.  Some  distance  beyond  was 
another  house  where  the  people  were  glad  to  buy  a  Bible, 
paid  twenty-five  cents  on  account  and  promised  to  pay  the 
rest  when  they  got  some  money.  In  the  next  house  was  a 
sick  woman.  After  reading  her  some  comforting  verses, 
the  colporteur  prayed  with  her.  A  Bible  was  very  much 
wanted  in  that  house,  but  there  was  no  money  with  which 
to  buy.  So  the  colporteur  gave  a  Bible  in  the  name  of  the 
Society  and  went  his  way.  No  task  is  so  onerous  as  to  out- 
weigh the  privileges  of  the  colporteur's  life. 

Volunteer  workers  in  this  Fourth  General  Supply  often 
took  up  Bible  distribution  with  hesitation,  but  as  in  any 
form  of  evangelistic  work,  they  found  quick  response,  and 
wondered  at  the  shrinking  which  had  held  them  back.  At 
Coleman,  Texas,  for  instance,  two  ladies  volunteered  to 
distribute  twenty-five  dollars'  worth  of  Bibles  for  a  local 
committee.  They  placed  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures  in  every 
family,  store,  and  office  where  it  was  acceptable,  and  the 
dwellers  in  solitary  places  were  made  glad.  Then  the  com- 
mittee wrote  joyfully  to  the  Society  in  New  York  remitting 
$22.50  receipts  from  sales  and  adding  ^2^  to  pay  for  an- 
other shipment  of  Bibles. 

One  of  the  means  used  by  the  Society  for  reaching  the 
careless  with  Scripture  was  the  railroad  companies.  The 
Board  proposed  to  put  Scriptures  in  the  cars  on  condition 
that  the   companies   provide  book-racks.     Eighty  dififerent 


1891]  PRESIDENT  GRANT  375 

railroads  availed  themselves  of  this  offer,  and  about  5,000 
volumes  were  placed  in  the  cars  for  passengers  to  read  as 
they  journeyed. 

In  1876  President  Grant  wrote  for  a  Sunday  School 
newspaper  a  message  to  the  Sunday  Schools  of  the  United 
States.  This  was  the  message :  ''  Hold  fast  to  the  Bible 
as  the  sheet  anchor  of  your  liberties.  Write  its  precepts 
on  your  hearts  and  practise  them  in  your  lives.  To  the  in- 
fluence of  this  book  are  we  indebted  for  all  progress  made 
in  true  civiHsation,  and  to  this  we  must  look  as  our  guide  in 
the  future.  '  Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation,  but  sin  is 
a  reproach  to  any  people.'     U.  S.  Grant." 

It  was  a  similar  earnest  yearning  to  deal  justly  with 
children  that  led  the  Society  in  1890  unanimously  to  ap- 
prove the  Board's  proposal  to  supply  with  a  Bible  every 
child  in  the  United  States  under  fifteen  years  of  age  and 
able  to  read.  The  number  of  Bibles  issued  in  the  United 
States  during  the  year  by  the  Society  was  31,000  volumes 
more  than  the  issues  of  the  previous  year. 

Unexpected  help  in  the  general  task  of  making  the  Bible 
known  was  rendered  by  Roman  Catholics  who  felt  the 
strong  impulse  given  to  Bible  reading  through  these  efforts 
and  could  not  resist  or  overcome  the  pressure.  Even  chil- 
dren sometimes  thwart  a  parent  by  persistent  asking.  The 
result  in  this  case  was  that  for  some  time  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic clergy  tried  to  increase  the  use  of  the  Douay  Bible 
among  their  people.  Another  unexpected  encouragement 
came  to  the  Society  during  this  period  from  Mormon  con- 
gregations in  Utah,  which  passed  resolutions  of  thanks  for 
Bibles  sent  into  that  territory.  Colporteurs  had  met  with 
opposition  in  Utah,  and  this  was  like  the  veering  of  the 
wind  when  a  ship  has  been  tossing  on  the  billows  of  an 
opposing  gale.  r        1    r- 

After  eight  years  of  strenuous  labour  the  fourth  General 
Supply  was  concluded.  The  Society  had  employed  some 
two  hundred  colporteurs  to  supplement  the  labours  of  sev- 
eral thousand  persons  sent  out  by  Auxiliary  Societies. 
During  the  eight  years  8,146,808  volumes  of  Scripture  were 
distributed  by  sale  or  gift  throughout  the  United  States. 
This  total  included  books  granted  during  this  period  to  the 


Z7^  DISTRIBUTION  IN  HOME  LAND      [1871- 

Sunday  School  Unions,  Tract  Societies,  etc.,  for  distribu- 
tion through  their  regular  channels.  It  is  notable  just  here 
that  while  the  Board  of  Managers  in  its  first  years  looked 
forward  with  hope  to  having  the  Bible  in  four  or  five  lan- 
guages, before  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  the  Society  its  dis- 
tributions included  Scriptures  in  twenty-seven  languages 
spoken  in  the  United  States. 

In  these  efforts  of  the  General  Supply  it  was  estimated 
that  at  last  1,000,000  persons  refused  the  Bible.  Many 
were  disbelievers  in  revealed  religion,  many  were  under  the 
thrall  of  superstition,  but  a  great  many  refused  the  Book 
because  they  could  not  read.  The  census  of  1880  reported 
in  the  United  States  more  than  6,000,000  children  of  school 
age  who  did  not  go  to  school.  The  number  of  people  to 
whom  the  Bible  was  sealed  up  through  inability  to  read  was 
alarmingly  great.  Here  the  missionary  society  with  its 
schools  comes  to  the  rescue  and  here  the  colporteur  must 
wait  on  the  missionary.  The  distribution  work  of  the  So- 
ciety is  a  partnership  work  with  all  who  accept  the  Bible 
as  the  word  of  God  and  the  foundation  of  true  wisdom. 
Sometimes  this  work  goes  in  advance  of  other  agencies, 
but  as  a  rule  it  is  closely  linked  with  the  missionary.  No 
report  of  the  work  of  the  Society  is  complete  in  itself  for 
no  evangelising  agency  stands  alone ;  but  every  year  piles 
up  records  that  prove  the  maxim  that  ''  the  power  of  truth 
is  like  the  force  of  gravitation,"  certain  in  its  orderly,  irre- 
sistible action  although  silent  and  invisible. 

Sometimes  it  is  an  immigrant,  sometimes  a  man  who 
ought  to  have  Bible  truth  by  inheritance,  sometimes  it  is  an 
Indian,  sometimes  a  black  man  who  supplies  proof  of  this 
inspiring  fact.  Mr.  Lambdin  in  Grundy  County,  Illinois,  in 
one  day  distributed  Bibles  in  eight  languages  at  Coal  City. 
One  of  the  men,  a  Bohemian,  the  next  day  brought  money 
for  the  Bible  and  to  the  astonishment  of  Mr.  Lambdin  he 
bought  several  Testaments  for  his  children.  Such  an  ap- 
preciation gives  a  colporteur  rest  from  much  weariness. 
In  Lewis  County,  Kentucky,  a  colporteur  met  a  man  who 
asked,  "Do  you  remember  me?"  He  could  not  remember 
him.  "  Well,"  said  the  man,  "  eight  years  ago  don't  you 
remember  going  toward  a  man  who  was  cutting  down  a 


1891]        CLASSES  OF  PEOPLE  REACHED  377 

tree  and  who  told  you  with  an  oath  that  you  would  be  killed 
if  you  didn't  look  out?  I  was  that  man;  you  came  on  and 
gave  me  a  Testament.  I  was  a  hard  drinker,  a  gambler  and 
a  fighter;  but  that  Testament  held  me  up."  For  two 
months  this  "  bad  man  "  had  read  the  Testament  and  judged 
himself  by  its  standards.  Of  course,  it  led  him  into  the 
Slough  of  Despond,  but  it  led  him  out  again,  and  he  told 
the  colporteur  the  joy  which  he  found  in  trying  to  lead  oth- 
ers to  Jesus  Christ.  About  1830,  during  the  first  general 
supply,  one  of  the  Society's  Bibles  was  given  to  a  lad  at 
work  in  a  cotton  factory.  The  book  took  hold  of  him,  gave 
him  aspirations.  He  determined  to  find  some  way  to  go  to 
school  and  college.  After  completing  his  studies  he  was 
ordained  a  Baptist  minister.  In  the  Fourth  General  Supply 
he  revealed  himself  to  a  Bible  Agent.  He  had  been  twenty- 
six  years  a  pastor  and  had  welcomed  into  his  church  more 
than  one  thousand  persons.  All  that  he  was,  had  done, 
or  hoped  to  do  he  owed  under  God's  favour  to  the 
Bible  given  to  him  in  that  first  General  Supply  of  the  desti- 
tute. 

One  class  of  people  reached  in  the  distribution  was  the 
Indians.  Often  in  their  relations  with  white  people  they 
were  like  children  who  measure  the  love  of  a  parent  by  its 
accord  with  their  whimsical  wishes.  It  was  in  1876  that 
General  Custer  and  his  command  were  destroyed  in  Mon- 
tana by  the  Sioux;  but  the  Sioux  were  among  the  eight 
tribes  of  Indians  for  whom  missionary  translators  prepared 
the  Bible  in  the  tongue  wherein  they  were  bom.  Of  the 
Dakotas  or  Sioux  in  1881  about  1,500  professing  Christians 
were  connected  with  the  Presbyterian  and  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Missions,  besides  some  3,000  adherents.  Hun- 
dreds of  Dakotas  had  been  changed  in  character :  the  worth- 
less made  useful,  and  the  ignorant  wise,  through  the  Bible. 
Buffalo  Bill,  on  one  of  his  tours,  took  his  Wild  West  show 
to  London.  During  the  rest  between  the  plays  some  Eng- 
lishmen noticed  two  of  the  Sioux  Indians  sitting  by  them- 
selves and  reading.  Curiosity  led  to  inquiry  what  this  book 
might  be  in  which  they  were  interested.  "  Why,  it's  the 
Bible,"  frankly  answered  the  Indian.  These  two  men, 
hired  for  the  Wild  West  show,  had  brought  their  book  with 


378      DISTRIBUTION  IN  HOME  LAND     [1871-1891 

them,  and  that  book  had  defended  them  from  the  vices  of 
the  so-called  Christians  who  surrounded  them. 

The  story  of  the  home  distribution  in  the  twenty  years 
of  this  period  can  be  summed  up  in  the  statement  that 
through  the  simple  instructions  of  a  Bible  "  a  nobler  few 
have  dared  to  stray  upward  " ;  the  interest  of  thousands  had 
been  aroused ;  violence  and  license  had  been  checked  among 
thousands  who  influenced  succeeding  generations,  and  some- 
thing had  thus  been  done  to  prepare  a  peaceful  future  for 
the  land.  In  this  respect  Bible  Distribution  is  entitled  to 
unhesitating  recognition  in  the  history  of  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  XLIII 

THE  BIBLE   SENT  AS  A  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY 

Jeremy  Taylor  somewhere  says :  "  All  those  strange 
things  and  secret  decrees  and  unrevealed  transactions  which 
are  above  the  clouds  and  beyond  the  regions  of  the  stars 
shall  combine  in  ministry  and  advantage  for  the  praying 
man."  The  Board  of  Managers  and  the  Executive  Officers 
while  struggling  to  perform  their  daily  duties  made  prayer 
for  guidance  their  habit;  when  acting  in  a  case  of  uncer- 
tainty their  humble  assurance  of  receiving  help  was  as  far 
as  possible  from  any  such  "  tempting "  of  God  as  marks 
headstrong  rashness  in  respect  to  divine  promises.  The 
book  which  it  was  their  duty  to  send  abroad  was  God's 
book :  it  was  was  sent  abroad  for  His  glory.  In  accordance 
with  this  habit  the  Board  granted  Scriptures  yearly  to  Mr. 
John  S.  Pierson,  the  enthusiastic  agent  of  the  New  York 
Bible  Society  labouring  among  the  shipping  in  the  harbour. 
Mr.  Pierson  placed  considerable  numbers  of  books  in  the 
hands  of  sea-captains  willing  to  take  Bibles  or  Testaments 
to  the  less  accessible  foreign  countries.  Rash  as  such  ven- 
tures might  appear  they  had  results  which  justified  this  good 
man's  faith  that  they  had  God's  approval. 

Curiously  enough,  Mr.  Pierson's  daring  to  risk  his  books 
like  a  venturesome  agent,  carried  a  quantity  of  Spanish 
Scriptures  in  1882  through  the  Roman  Catholic  barriers  at 
the  Philippine  Islands.  Three  separate  captains  came 
thence  rejoicing  like  the  disciples  who  found  that  even  un- 
clean spirits  were  subject  to  them.  At  Iloilo,  workmen, 
stevedores,  and  government  officials  received  the  books 
gladly.  At  another  of  the  island  ports  the  captain  managed 
to  send  a  package  of  Spanish  Testaments  to  the  soldiers  of 
the  garrison  who  received  them  with  thanks.     A  third  cap- 

379 


38o      BIBLE  AS  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    [1871- 

tain  said  that  he  had  no  peace  after  the  people  had  received 
some  of  the  Testaments.  Every  day  they  came  on  board 
begging  for  Testaments  or  Portions.  The  ease  with  which 
the  books  found  readers  seemed,  hke  the  thought  of  sending 
them,  to  come  from  the  Lord. 

The  same  sense  of  a  divine  hand  pointing  to  action  ap- 
peared in  other  foreign  distributions.  For  years  the  Society 
had  been  supplying  through  the  American  congregation  in 
St.  Petersburg  the  Esthonians  of  the  district  of  Reval  and 
the  islands  of  Dago  and  Osel  with  the  New  Testament  in 
their  own  language.  The-  Agent  in  this  work  for  the  So- 
ciety in  St.  Petersburg  was  Mr.  George  H.  Prince,  who 
supervised  the  printing  and  distribution  of  Esthonian  Testa- 
ments as  money  came  from  New  York.  After  the  comple- 
tion of  a  revision  of  the  Old  Testament  by  the  local  clergy 
an  edition  of  20,000  copies  of  the  Bible  was  printed  for  the 
Society  in  Berlin  in  a  handy  and  cheap  form  which  could  be 
easily  used  by  school  children.  In  1878  this  school  Bible 
was  electrotyped  in  New  York  and  20,000  Esthonian  Bibles 
were  printed  at  the  Bible  House.  Five  years  later  28,000 
copies  of  the  school  Bible  had  already  been  put  in  circulation 
by  colporteurs. 

This  to  the  Board  was  like  working  blindly;  but  it  was 
not  headstrong  rashness.  One  thing  had  already  been 
learned;  there  was  a  missionary's  work  which  each  Bible 
might  do  in  the  narrow  circle  of  interests  of  the  Esthonian 
peasants.  A  labourer  testified  to  the  colporteur  concerning 
the  grip  the  Testament  gained  upon  his  heart.  *'  I  did  not 
want  to  buy  a  Testament,"  he  said,  *'  but  now  I  must.  Last 
Sunday  I  asked  a  neighbour  to  go  with  me  for  a  walk  and 
for  a  drink  of  vodka.  He  was  reading  the  New  Testament. 
He  sat  as  though  fixed  on  the  spot  and  said  to  me,  '  Have 
you  no  book  like  this  ? '  I  said,  *  I  have  no  time  to  read.' 
He  said,  '  If  you  had  a  book  like  this  you  would  not  care  to 
go  about  drinking  vodka ! '  *  I  am  not  an  old  man,'  said  I, 
*  that  I  should  sit  all  Sunday.'  He  said  to  me,  *  Just  listen 
to  what  this  book  says.'  I  sat  down  and  he  read.  It  was 
good.  My  wife,  surprised  that  I  was  not  drunk  when  I 
got  home,  asked  me  where  I  had  been.  I  told  her.  She 
asked  where  my  neighbour  got  his  New  Testament.     I  was 


1891]  AMONG  EXILES  IN  SIBERIA  381 

ashamed  to  tell  her,  lest  she  would  ask  why  I  had  not  got 
one  for  myself.  I  am  glad  to  meet  you  and  want  one  for 
myself.  Now  I  shall  read  my  own  New  Testament  on 
Sundays." 

Rev.  Mr.  Bidwell  of  Boston  had  suggested  to  the  Society 
work  among  political  prisoners  in  Siberia  and  aided  in  1877 
in  making  arrangements  for  it.  At  the  first  there  was  a  lit- 
tle difficulty  on  account  of  red  tape.  The  books  were 
shipped  from  Boston  17,000  miles  to  Nikolaievski  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Amur  River.  After  permission  had  been 
granted  for  the  first  shipment  a  change  of  military  officials 
and  ecclesiastics  made  it  necessary  to  go  over  the  whole 
ground  again.  A  sample  book  had  to  be  sent  from  Niko- 
laievski where  the  books  were,  1500  miles  to  the  archbishop 
at  Blagovestchensk  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Amur  River 
from  Aigun  in  China.  But  when  the  books  finally  reached 
the  exiles  in  their  banishment  the  comfort  and  patience 
which  the  Master's  words  brought  to  those  friendless,  lonely 
souls  repaid  all  the  labour,  anxiety  and  expense.  The  sol- 
diers guarding  the  convicts  were  equally  joyful.  "  We  have 
lived  here  like  animals,"  said  one  to  the  colporteur ;  "  we 
have  no  church,  and  we  have  quite  forgotten  about  God. 
Then  you  come  with  your  books  as  if  sent  from  heaven. 
We  begin  to  read  and  somehow  the  more  we  read  the  more 
glad  we  become !  " 

When  Secretary  Gilman  was  in  St.  Petersburg  in  1879  ar- 
rangements were  made  through  Mr.  George  H.  Prince  with 
the  Imperial  Bible  Society  of  Russia  by  which  a  new  work 
of  distribution  by  colporteurs  was  undertaken  in  Siberia  at 
the  expense  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  two  of  the  Rus- 
sian Society's  colporteurs  being  detailed  for  the  work  of  the 
American  Society.  The  life  of  these  colporteurs  was  stren- 
uous, now  taking  a  ton  of  Scriptures  from  St.  Petersburg  to 
Odessa  and  thence  by  sea  through  the  Suez  Canal  to  Vladi- 
vostock  and  the  Amur  River;  now  riding  7,000  miles  on 
horseback  across  the  whole  continent  of  Asia,  and  back; 
and  once  returning  to  St.  Petersburg  by  way  of  San  Fran- 
cisco and  New  York  where  Colporteur  Golubeflf  was  an 
interesting  and  picturesque  visitor  at  the  Bible  House. 
About  300,000  volumes  of  Scripture  were  distributed  by 


382      BIBLE  AS  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    [1871- 

colporteurs  in  Siberia  at  the  expense  of  the  Society  during 
this  period.  They  delighted  and  comforted  prisoners,  ex- 
iles, soldiers,  civilians,  officers  of  high  rank.  The  Society 
spent  upon  this  great  and  beneficent  work  $79,563 ;  the  ex- 
tent of  the  blessings  dispensed  will  never  be  written.  The 
glad  story  of  the  wagoner  on  the  road  from  Tomsk  to  Ir- 
kutsk is  typical.  He  never  had  seen  a  New  Testament  but 
the  colporteurs  had  left  Testaments  in  every  station  road- 
house.  By  reading  what  he  could  at  each  halt  and  finding 
the  book  again  at  the  next  station,  at  the  end  of  his  thou- 
sand miles'  journey,  out  of  some  scores  of  different  volumes 
he  had  read  the  whole  New  Testament.  Since  the  book 
thus  blessed  thousands  of  people  who  were  out  of  sight  and 
forgotten,  the  cost  of  the  distribution  was  not  to  be  be- 
grudged. 

Just  across  the  Baltic  Sea  west  of  Reval  and  the  Esthon- 
ias,  at  Stockholm  in  Sweden  the  American  Baptist  Mission- 
ary Union  had  a  flourishing  mission  in  aid  of  which  the 
Society  made  a  number  of  grants  at  this  time.  The  Rev. 
Per  Palmquist  received  the  grants  and  had  Swedish  Scrip- 
tures printed  as  required,  following  the  version  of  the  Bible 
authorised  by  the  Lutheran  state  Church.  Here,  too,  the 
Bible  sought  out  hungry  souls  and  fed  them,  although  many 
felt  no  pressing  need  of  it.  The  whole  amount  granted 
during  this  period  to  the  Baptist  mission  in  Sweden  was 
$21,512.  To  Methodist  Episcopal  missions  in  Denmark, 
Sweden  and  Norway  $6,150  was  granted,  making  $27,662 
for  efforts  to  increase  use  of  the  Bible  among  these  Scandi- 
navian populations. 

A  work  of  the  Society  already  alluded  to  was  that  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  mission  at  Bremen.  During  twenty- 
two  years  from  1850  Rev.  Dr.  Jacobi,  the  superintendent, 
distributed  at  the  expense  of  the  Society  300,000  copies  of 
Scriptures  mostly  printed  at  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mis- 
sion Press.  In  1872,  full  of  years,  he  retired  from  active 
work,  receiving  the  honorary  appointment  of  Life  Director 
of  the  American  Bible  Society  for  eminent  services  ren- 
dered. Rev.  Dr.  Doering  then  took  charge  of  the  mission 
and  although  the  British  Society  was  pressing  its  own  Bible 
distribution  with  great  vigour,  $136,692  as  help  from  the 


1891]      TESTIMONY  OF  GERMAN  EMPEROR    383 

American  Society  was  granted  American  missionaries  in 
Germany  during  this  period.  In  addition  to  this  money 
grant  to  the  Methodist  Mission,  Rev.  Dr.  Oncken  of  the 
Baptist  Mission  in  Hamburg  in  1872  printed  for  Baptist 
missionaries  at  the  expense  of  the  Society  35,000  German 
Testaments. 

Two  Httle  incidents  must  be  mentioned  lest  we  forget  that 
all  of  these  ventures  abroad  were  merely  designed  to  place 
the  Bible  in  contact  with  the  hearts  of  men.  One  of  Dr. 
Doering's  colporteurs  encountered  a  Jew  on  a  railway  train. 
The  man  wanted  a  Bible  but  had  not  money  enough  to  pay 
the  full  price.  A  German  fellow-traveller  sneered  at  him. 
"  The  Jew  wants,"  said  he,  "  to  buy  the  Bible  cheap  so  as 
to  sell  it  again  in  half  an  hour."  Four  months  later  this 
colporteur  stopped  at  a  house  in  a  country  village  and  lo 
and  behold,  there  was  the  Jew !  In  answer  to  the  colpor- 
teur's question  he  smilingly  took  down  the  Bible  from  a 
shelf,  and  said :  "  Yes,  the  Bible  is  my  Bible ;  it  has  given 
me  light,  and  Jesus  is  my  Messiah  also."  The  Book  had 
accomplished  that  whereto  it  was  sent !  The  other  incident 
shows  the  recognition  of  the  missionary  quality  of  the  Bible 
accorded  by  the  great  as  well  as  by  the  small. 

Miss  Heye  of  Bremen  sometimes  received  small  grants 
from  the  American  Bible  Society.  The  New  York  Female 
Bible  Society  gave  her  a  pulpit  Bible  for  a  chapel  in  the 
Tyrol  at  Bad-Gastein,  belonging  to  the  German  Emperor. 
Miss  Heye  ventured  to  ask  the  emperor  to  write  in  the  pul- 
pit Bible  a  message  to  the  congregation.  He  wrote  this 
verse :  *'  For  Thou  art  my  hope,  oh  Lord  God ;  Thou  art 
my  trust  from  my  youth."  And  then  he  added  his  own  word 
of  testimony :  "  Hope  cometh  by  faith.  Gastein,  August 
2ist,  1872,  Wilhelm  Imp.  Rex."  The  German  believer  and 
the  American  believers  were  thus  united  in  the  expression 
of  their  common  faith. 

The  American  mission  at  Innsbruck  in  Austria  was  an- 
other field  gladly  aided  by  the  Society.  Rev.  Mr.  Bissell 
had  reported  the  difficulties  of  the  situation,  but  he  under- 
took to  support  one  or  more  colporteurs  with  aid  from  the 
Society.  The  Austrian  law  did  not  prohibit  the  circulation 
of  the  Bible.     It  did  not  prohibit  selling  the  Bible.     In  its 


384      BIBLE  AS  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    [1871- 

efforts  to  prevent  union  of  aims  between  its  diverse  peo- 
ples, it  forbade  colporteurs  to  deliver  the  Bible  when  a  cus- 
tomer was  found.  The  purchaser  must  give  a  written  or- 
der and  the  book  must  not  be  delivered  the  same  day.  In 
the  meantime  clerical  friends  of  the  purchaser  would  try 
to  dissuade  him  from  buying  it.  One  of  the  colporteurs 
made  the  mistake  of  giving  the  Bible  to  a  poor  woman  who 
wanted  it,  without  first  taking' her  "subscription."  He 
was  arrested  and  fined  for  his  ''  crime."  In  his  pocket  the 
police  found  a  tract ;  his  license  permitted  him  to  carry  the 
Bible  but  made  no  mention  of  tracts.  For  this  aggravation 
of  crime  the  colporteur's  license  was  revoked,  and  word  was 
sent  to  the  surrounding  districts  that  he  was  an  unworthy 
man.  Traps  were  continually  set  by  the  police  in  the  path 
of  the  colporteurs. 

But  all  such  troubles  served  to  reveal  the  desire  of  the 
people  for  the  Scriptures.  They  were  forgotten  when  the 
colporteur  could  see  with  his  own  eyes  the  comfort  rendered 
by  the  book  which  he  carried.  One  day  a  colporteur  called 
upon  a  family  living  in  a  stable.  After  a  few  pleasant  words 
he  remarked,  "  Our  Saviour  was  born  in  a  stable,  and  I  have 
brought  you  here  His  own  precious  words."  The  book 
for  which  these  poor  people  had  longed  had  come  into  their 
abode  and  they  were  delighted.  The  copy  they  wanted  cost 
forty  kreutzers  (twenty  cents)  ;  but  they  had  only  thirty 
kreutzers,  which  was  their  reliance  for  food  for  the  next 
two  days.  But  rather  than  fail  to  secure  the  words  of 
Jesus,  they  chose  to  suffer  hunger.  They  gave  the  colpor- 
teur ten  kreutzers,  keeping  twenty  to  live  on  for  two  days. 
The  colporteur  was  only  too  glad  to  let  them  have  the  book 
they  needed.  The  aid  rendered  by  the  Society  to  the  Amer- 
ican mission  in  Austria  during  this  period  amounted  to 
about  $10,000. 

The  struggles  of  Protestants  of  France  to  maintain  their 
own  evangelistic  institutions  always  called  out  the  sympathy 
of  the  Society  for  they  were  embarrassed  by  poverty  and 
opposed  both  by  the  Roman  Church  and  by  its  bitterest  ene- 
mies. In  1872  the  Protestant  Bible  Society  of  Paris  re- 
ceived a  grant  in  aid  of  printing  the  Osterwald  Version  of 
the  French  Bible  and  the  Bible  Society  of  France  rejoiced 


iSgi]  LABOUR  IN  FRANCE  385 

in  a  grant  of  $5,000  for  printing  New  Testaments  and 
Portions.  There  was  in  France  great  opportunity  to  cir- 
culate Scriptures  notwithstanding  a  chorus  of  opposition 
and  ridicule.  When  a  reactionary  ministry  came  into 
power  colporteurs'  licenses  were  revoked  without  waiting 
until  the  next  day.  When  the  reactionaries  were  over- 
thrown, the  granting  of  colporteurs'  Hcenses  was  resumed 
but  slowly.  Often  the  vexatious  conditions  laid  down  seri- 
ously delayed  the  work.  The  steps  necessary  to  obtain  a 
license  began  with  obtaining  a  certificate  of  good  life  and 
manners  from  well-known  people.  Secondly,  a  passport 
must  be  obtained.  Thirdly,  the  colporteur  must  get  a  local 
license  costing  from  three  to  eight  dollars,  according  to  the 
rule  in  vogue  in  the  region  where  he  was  to  work.  In  each 
Department  (district)  the  colporteur  had  also  to  take  out 
a  special  authorisation  good  only  for  that  particular  dis- 
trict. This  was  always  delayed  and  sometimes  rejected  on 
the  ground  that  no  additional  book  sellers  were  required  in 
the  district. 

Notwithstanding  these  restrictions,  warm-hearted  Chris- 
tians were  always  eager  to  become  Bible  colporteurs.  The 
return  of  Liberals  to  power  removed  the  most  senseless  of 
the  restrictions  of  colportage.  This  produced  a  curious  re- 
sult. The  French  Roman  Catholic  clergy  obtained  from  the 
Pope  permission  to  print  a  French  New  Testament  trans- 
lated from  the  Vulgate;  avowedly  in  order  to  combat  the 
circulation  of  Protestant  versions.  During  the  next  ten 
years  the  Bible  Society  of  France  printed  more  than  300,000 
volumes,  chiefly  Testaments  and  Portions,  at  the  expense 
of  the  American  Bible  Society.  The  grants  during  the 
twenty  years  to  French  Bible  Societies  amounted  to  $53,531. 

During  this  period  the  Society  made  grants  to  the  Geneva 
Evangelical  Society  amounting  to  $27,105  for  specially  se- 
lected colporteurs  in  France.  The  Bible  men  met  many  dif- 
ficulties, but  they  also  probed  the  hearts  of  the  common  peo- 
ple. A  colporteur  was  arrested  because  the  Bibles  which 
he  carried  were  bound  in  black  while  the  one  which  bore  the 
stamp  of  authorisation  was  bound  in  brown.  But  his  trou- 
bles seemed  light  by  the  side  of  those  of  a  day-labourer  who 
had  been  won  by  the  savour  of  the  verses  which  the  colpor- 


386      BIBLE  AS  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    [1871- 

teur  read  aloud.  He  wanted  to  get  a  copy  of  the  Gospel  of 
Matthew  which  friends  might  read  to  him.  His  wife  ob- 
jected; the  priest  had  said  that  the  book  was  bad.  On  his 
hesitating  she  said  that  he  ought  to  obey  the  priest  at  any 
price  because  he  holds  the  key  of  Heaven.  The  husband 
said :  "  \\' ho  gave  him  that  key  ?  "  The  poor  fellow  had 
to  yield  to  his  wife's  logic  although  he  had  tasted  the  savour 
of  the  book.  He  said  helplessly :  "  Perhaps  the  priest  lies ; 
but  I  cannot  read  and  I  have  to  do  what  the  priest  says  for 
I  cannot  instruct  myself  in  these  matters." 

A  well-to-do  lady  told  Mr.  Dardier,  the  agent  of  the 
Geneva  Society,  that  she  did  not  care  for  the  New  Testa- 
ment. He  responded  by  reciting  verses  which  breathe  spe- 
cial comfort  for  the  afflicted.  She  then  admitted  that  her 
heart  was  sorrowful;  she  could  not  worship  the  God  of  the 
priests ;  she  had  not  been  inside  of  a  church  for  eight  years. 
But  she  thirsted  for  God ;  she  said  to  Mr.  Dardier :  "  You 
must  have  known  what  was  in  my  heart  when  you  read 
those  verses.  I  would  like  to  buy  your  book,  and  I  too  will 
believe  on  Jesus  Christ."  Time  and  again  the  colporteurs 
received  from  unexpected  quarters  testimony  to  the  habit 
which  this  book  has  of  rooting  its  words  in  the  mind  and 
heart  of  the  serious  reader.  One  day  a  clerk  in  a  govern- 
ment office  hailed  a  colporteur  with  some  friendly  salutation 
and  said  to  him :  "  You  once  gave  me  a  Testament.  For 
a  long  time  I  carried  it  in  my  pocket  and  did  not  look  at  it. 
But  now  for  three  years  it  has  been  in  my  heart !  " 

Spain,  closely  linked  to  France  in  one  sense,  w^as  sharply 
separated  from  it  in  actual  fact.  The  quality  of  a  govern- 
ment, and  the  character  of  a  people  may  mark  frontiers 
more  sharply  than  mountains.  Shortly  after  the  revolution 
that  unseated  Isabella  of  the  Golden  Rose,  the  American 
Bible  Society  sent  to  the  missionaries  of  the  American  and 
Foreign  Christian  Union  in  Spain  7,500  volumes  of  Scrip- 
ture. It  was  the  first  large  consignment  of  Bibles  to  reach 
the  home  of  the  Inquisition.  Shortly  the  British  and  For- 
eign Bible  Society  began  to  print  Scriptures  in  Madrid  and 
issued  in  one  year  over  87,000  volumes.  The  National 
Bible  Society  of  Scotland  also  arrived  in  Spain,  not  to  print 
but  to  circulate  Scriptures.     The  Trinitarian  Bible  Society 


1891]      VENTURES  IN  SPAIN  AND  ITALY  387 

of  London  also  commenced  an  extensive  work  of  distribu- 
tion by  means  of  a  Bible  coach.  The  eagerness  of  Span- 
iards to  lay  hold  upon  the  Scriptures  when  some  degree  of 
liberty  had  been  introduced  was  pathetic.  Mr.  Lawrence, 
the  Agent  of  the  Trinitarian  Bible  Society,  wrote  to  Secre- 
tary Holdich,  '*  No  little  chick  just  liberated  from  its  shell 
more  instantly  seizes  upon  its  proper  food  than  does  the 
heart  set  free  to  do  so  instantly  turn  to  the  incorruptible 
seed  which  is  its  own  food." 

Rev.  William  H.  Gulick,  missionary  of  the  American 
Board  at  Santander,  wrote  to  Dr.  Oilman  in  1878  about  the 
method  of  the  work.  He  said :  "  Our  method  is  that  of 
the  disciples  of  old.  When  persecuted  in  one  city  we  flee 
into  another."  The  reports  of  the  American  Board's  mis- 
sionaries showed  seven  or  eight  colporteurs  employed  and 
five  or  six  thousand  volumes  put  in  circulation  in  Spain 
each  year  after  the  overthrow  of  the  reactionary  ministry 
of  Canovas  del  Castillo.  The  grants  to  the  American  mis- 
sions in  Spain  during  the  twenty  years  amounted  to  $21,142. 

Another  country  offering  difficulty  and  opposition  to  Bible 
colporteurs  was  Italy,  a  neighbour  to  Spain  upon  the  Medi- 
terranean. In  1873  Dr.  Cote  of  the  Baptist  Mission  in 
Rome,  bought  at  the  expense  of  the  Bible  Society  300  New 
Testaments  printed  in  that  city  by  the  Italian  Bible  Society. 
Dr.  Cote  took  great  pleasure  in  circulating  them.  In  1874 
the  Rev.  H.  C.  Waite  announced  the  distribution  for  the 
American  Bible  Society  of  5,000  Portions,  500  Testaments, 
and  200  Bibles  in  Rome  and  vicinity.  It  was  pleasant  to 
know  that  as  a  result  of  this  work  of  the  mission,  115  Ital- 
ian soldiers  were  converted  and  received  into  the  church 
during  the  year. 

The  Rev.  L.  M.  Vernon  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mis- 
sion, writing  from  Rome  in  September,  1878,  pictures 
graphically  the  method  of  the  clergy  in  depriving  the  peo- 
ple of  the  Scriptures.  A  labourer  returning  from  Bolsena 
met  a  colporteur  and  bought  a  Testament  of  him  for  half 
a  franc.  He  opened  the  book  and  walked  along  reading 
here  and  there,  saying  to  himself :  "  Half  a  franc ;  why, 
this  is  worth  two  worlds !  "  After  he  got  home  to  Molise 
one  day  he  met  the  parish  priest.     "  Oh,"  he  said,  "  I  want 


388      BIBLE  AS  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    [1871- 

to  show  you  a  little  book  I  have.  It  is  wonderful.  It  con- 
tains the  secret  for  becoming  good,"  and  he  handed  the 
priest  his  treasure.  ''  Miserable  man,"  said  the  priest,  "  this 
book  —  either  you  burn  this  book  or  you  will  be  excom- 
municated and  damned  forever!"  "What  in  the  world?" 
said  the  labourer.  "It  only  speaks  of  God;  it  is  not  an 
excommunicated  book ;  it  cannot  be."  "  Great  blockhead !  " 
cried  the  angry  priest,  "  how  do  you  know  whether  or  not  it 
is  excommunicated?  Either  you  burn  it,  or  you  will  not 
receive  absolution ! "  Upon  this  the  labourer  decided  to 
take  chances  with  the  book  rather  than  with  the  priest 
whose  absolution  was  of  doubtful  quality. 

So  the  gospel  made  its  way  in  Italy  through  all  of  this 
period,  often  cursed  and  destroyed  by  rabid  priests,  but 
sometimes  greeted  with  joy  and  often  read  with  faith.  To 
aid  the  missions  to  circulate  the  Scriotures  in  Italy  the  So- 
ciety granted  during  this  period  $13,741. 

As  in  these  European  lands  so  in  the  islands  of  Latin 
America  in  this  period  the  Bible  was  sent  to  many  places  to 
do  by  itself  its  own  work  as  a  missionary.  These  islands 
were  notable  as  among  the  nearest  of  the  Society's  foreign 
fields  and  as  the  most  repellent.  The  Society  for  years 
seemed  to  hang  upon  the  verge  of  access  to  them.  In  1870 
communications  were  received  from  J.  W.  Zaccheus,  a 
teacher  doing  some  independent  missionary  work  in  the 
island  of  Vieques,  one  of  the  dependencies  of  Porto  Rico. 
When  he  went  from  this  island  to  the  town  of  Fajardo  in 
Porto  Rico  he  sent  earnest  requests  to  the  Society  for  Scrip- 
tures to  be  furnished  him  there.  The  receipt  of  the  books 
he  acknowledged  in  these  unstudied  words  December  loth, 
1873:  "Halleluiah!  Yesterday  afternoon  I  had  the  joy 
not  only  to  receive  but  to  unpack  the  box  of  books.  I  im- 
mediately sold  three  Bibles.  Joy  inexpressible!  Only 
think  —  the  first  box  of  Bibles  ever  brought  to  Fajardo!  " 

Another  field  which  was  attractive  and  yet  most  difficult 
was  the  Spanish  section  of  the  island  of  Hayti  known  as 
Santo  Domingo.  Here  the  terrible  illiteracy  of  the  people 
was  a  main  obstacle  to  Bible  work.  In  1871  when  "  an- 
nexation "  was  in  the  air,  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Norris  was  sent 
as  special  Agent  and  commissioner  to  Santo  Domingo.     He 


1891]  MORE  LIBERTY  IN  CUBA  389 

was  greatly  delighted  with  the  appearance  of  the  island,  its 
natural  beauties  and  riches,  and  pleased  with  several  flour- 
ishing though  small  missionary  establishments.  His  report 
did  not  encourage  the  planting  of  a  permanent  agency  in  the 
island.  Nevertheless  the  small  groups  of  Evangelicals  at 
the  mission  stations  gave  a  certainty  that  Bible  distribution 
would  be  carried  on  by  these  loving  hands  as  the  Society 
supplied  them. 

In  Cuba  there  was  a  distinct  relaxation  of  opposition  to 
the  Bible  as  a  result  of  the  revolution  in  Spain.  Scriptures 
were  sent  from  New  York  to  several  of  the  seaports  and 
distributed  thence  by  the  good  offices  of  parties  interested 
in  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom.  It  was  not  until  1882 
that  the  Board  decided  to  establish  a  permanent  Agency  in 
the  island.  After  Rev.  Thomas  L.  Gulick  had  made  for  the 
Society  a  careful  examination  of  conditions,  the  Rev.  A.  J. 
McKim  in  1884  was  appointed  Agent  for  the  island.  He 
found  immediately  a  welcome  for  his  books  and  at  the  end 
of  the  first  year  reported  that  6,400  volumes  had  been  put 
in  circulation  chiefly  by  sale.  A  serious  difficulty,  however, 
hampered  his  enterprise,  in  the  scarcity  of  material  to  draw 
upon  for  his  colporteurs.  As  Baptist  and  other  missions 
grew  congregations  were  formed  at  Havana,  Matanzas,  and 
Cienfuegos  and  from  these  came  forth  devoted  men  for 
colporteurs.  During  the  five  years  from  1882  to  1887  about 
22,000  volumes  of  Scripture  were  put  in  circulation  in  Cuba, 
chiefly  by  sale. 


CHAPTER  XLIV 

SYSTEMATISING   THE  DISTRIBUTION    ABROAD 

Mr.  Andrew  Milne  was  appointed  Agent  of  the  Society 
in  1864  for  the  District  of  Entre  Rios,  between  the  Parana 
and  Uruguay  Rivers,  in  South  America.  In  ChiH,  on  the 
west  coast  of  the  continent,  Rev.  Dr.  Trumbull  maintained 
a  missionary  enterprise  aided  by  the  American  Bible  Soci- 
ety ^  and  to  some  extent  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  through  the  Valparaiso  Bible  Society.  This  work 
was  cosmopolitan  in  character,  reaching  not  only  the  native 
Chilians  as  opportunity  offered,  but  carrying  books  into  the 
coast  towns  of  Peru  when  it  seemed  safe  to  do  so,  and  con- 
tinually offering  Scriptures  to  the  sailors  of  all  nations 
whose  ships  brought  them  to  Valparaiso  or  to  Santiago.  To 
different  parts  of  Chili  mining  and  railroad  construction 
had  brought  numbers  of  German,  Swiss,  Italian,  and  other 
workmen  who  were  also  reached  by  the  colporteurs  of  the 
Valparaiso  Society.  At  that  time  this  enterprise  of  Dr. 
Trumbull  was  deemed  to  be  a  separate  unit. 

Mr.  Milne's  field,  beginning  at  Rosario  and  Montevideo, 
was  slowly  extended  during  twenty  years  to  include  the  vast 
expanses  of  Argentina,  the  war-devastated  fields  of  Para- 
guay, the  wide  grassy  plains  of  Uruguay  and  the  little 
known  mountain  regions  of  Bolivia.  From  Montevideo  on 
the  Rio  Plata  to  La  Paz  near  Lake  Titicaca  in  Bolivia  is  a 
distance  of  about  2,500  miles  within  the  limits  of  this 
Agency ;  and  difficulties  of  transportation  at  that  time  made 
the  distance  almost  a  two  months'  journey. 

Travel  and  its  incidents  were  leading  characteristics  of 
the  operation  of  this  great  Agency.     In  its  earliest  days  Mr. 

1  During  the  period  1871-1891  this  aid  amounted  to  $11,540. 

390 


1871-1891]     IMPRISONMENT  OF  PENZOTTI        391 

George  Schmidt  was  a  devoted  explorer  who  made  long 
journeys  with  his  Bibles  until  in  April,  1872,  to  the  great 
grief  of  his  associates  and  friends,  his  life  came  to  an  end 
at  Asuncion  in  Paraguay.  Mr.  Milne  wrote  of  him  at  this 
time,  "  No  one  ever  laboured  more  devotedly  or  with  purer 
motives  than  he.  If  any  one  has  deserved  a  monument  it  is 
Mr.  Schmidt  in  return  for  his  labours  in  behalf  of  the  La 
Plata  Republics." 

Mr.  Milne,  too,  made  long  and  fatiguing  journeys  to  learn 
the  needs  and  to  plan  the  supply  of  this  field  that  extended 
right  across  the  continent.  It  was  not  until  1884  that  he 
was  able  to  say  that  in  one  year  all  the  different  countries 
covered  by  the  agency  had  been  visited.  He  had  a  band  of 
well-chosen  and  faithful  colporteurs  occupied  continually 
in  scattering  the  Scriptures  despite  opposition  which  was 
fierce  and  cruel.  In  the  early  eighties  he  took  into  his  serv- 
ice an  energetic  Methodist  minister  from  Peru,  the  Rev. 
Francisco  Penzotti,  who  after  some  years  of  arduous  jour- 
neys sometimes  alone  and  sometimes  with  Mr.  Milne,  was 
appointed  Assistant  Agent  of  the  La  Plata  Agency  with  a 
special  field  in  Western  Bolivia  and  Peru.  All  these  jour- 
neys made  by  Mr.  Milne  in  Argentina,  Uruguay,  Paraguay, 
Bolivia,  Ecuador,  Venezuela  and  Peru,  convinced  him  that 
no  part  of  the  world  can  possibly  have  a  greater  claim  upon 
the  loving  attention  of  the  Society  than  the  countries  of 
Central  and  South  America. 

In  1888  Mr.  Penzotti  was  arrested  at  Arequipa  for  selling 
Bibles,  but  after  nineteen  days  he  was  released  and  contin- 
ued his  work  in  Peru  and  Bolivia.  In  July,  1890,  he  was 
arrested  at  Callao  upon  the  charge  of  having  conducted  re- 
ligious worship  which  was  not  that  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  The  case  was  tried,  and  Mr.  Penzotti  was  de- 
clared not  guilty,  but  appeal  was  taken  to  a  higher  court. 
The  prosecution  was  so  clearly  malicious  and  unjust  that 
secular  newspapers  and  numbers  of  persons  not  sympathis- 
ing in  any  way  with  Mr.  Penzotti's  Bible  enterprises  joined 
in  a  general  clamour  of  protest.  This  agitation  failing  to 
get  him  freedom,  men  began  to  demand  a  sweeping  reform 
in  the  laws  and  even  in  the  constitution  of  the  republic  so 
as  to  secure  religious  liberty.     After  seven  months  of  im- 


392  SYSTEMATISING  DISTRIBUTION      [1871- 

prisonment,  and  after  remonstrances  from  the  United 
States  and  the  British  Ministers,  Mr.  Penzotti  was  released 
by  decree  of  the  Supreme  Court.  His  sufferings  in  prison, 
Hke  those  of  St.  Paul,  were  deemed  light  because  of  the  re- 
sult. By  the  good  providence  of  God  the  outrages  and  con- 
tumely showered  upon  him  went  far  to  work  out  full  re- 
gions liberty  in  several  Latin  American  countries  where 
priests  still  held  in  their  clutch  many  officers  of  the  law. 

In  1884  the  central  depository  of  the  La  Plata  Agency 
was  moved  into  the  city  of  Buenos  Aires  and  the  govern- 
ment of  Argentina  recognising  the  purely  benevolent  char- 
acter of  the  Bible  enterprise  granted  freedom  from  customs 
duties  on  Bibles  imported  from  abroad.  About  $400  was 
the  saving  which  this  franchise  brought  to  the  Society  in 
one  year. 

The  work  of  the  Agency  was  disturbed  again  and  again 
by  revolution,  by  war,  and  the  train  of  evils  which  such 
disturbances  bring  in  their  train.  But  during  this  period, 
in  spite  of  all  obstacles  and  the  vehement  opposition  of 
clergy  in  different  parts  of  the  field,  281,199  Bibles,  Testa- 
ments and  Portions  were  distributed  mainly  by  sale. 

The  growth  of  the  field  of  the  Agency  has  been  suggested 
only.  But  it  will  be  admitted  that  such  a  growth  is  a  cogent 
argument  for  placing  capable  and  broad-minded  Agents  in 
charge  of  the  Society's  enterprises  in  lands  too  distant  for 
direct  supervision  from  New  York.  The  better  knowledge 
of  results  where  an  Agent  is  on  hand  to  report  growth  is 
another  argument.  Cases  continually  come  to  light  which 
invite  the  Society  to  urge  greater  diligence  in  distribution. 
The  results  of  Bible  reading  are  uniform  among  all  the  dif- 
ferent races  with  whom  we  have  to  do.  In  the  first  place 
the  book  always  gains  more  or  less  of  a  hearing.  Secondly, 
its  influence  is  thus  certified.  Thirdly,  among  the  people 
the  Bible  is  granted  a  real  monopoly  not  only  of  truth  but 
of  intellectual  might.  And  in  the  fourth  place,  in  all  the 
regions  to  which  it  goes,  the  Bible  finally  becomes  a  leader 
of  a  more  or  less  considerable  group  of  people.  It  does  its 
work  slowly,  perhaps,  but  when  it  gains  a  hearing  the  gain 
is  permanent. 

In  one  of  his  letters  Dr.  Trumbull  describes  the  process 


1891]       WHERE  THE  BIBLE  IS  AT  WORK  393 

by  which  the  Bible  makes  its  own  way  among  the  people. 
The  beginning  of  an  endless  chain  was  with  an  English- 
woman who  advised  a  Chilian  to  read  the  Bible.  The  Chil- 
ian bought  a  Bible,  read  it,  and  then  casually  recommended 
a  friend  to  read  it  also.  This  friend  borrowed  the  book 
which  had  been  commended  to  him.  The  Chilian  then 
bought  himself  another  book,  lent  it  to  another  friend  and 
bought  a  third  Bible.  By  that  time  the  others  had  read  suf- 
ficiently to  wish  to  buy  the  Bibles  which  they  had  borrowed. 
In  the  meantime  the  original  mover  in  this  matter  had  be- 
come thoroughly  convinced  of  the  truth.  He  invested  the 
money  from  the  sale  of  the  two  books  in  two  more  Bibles, 
and  openly  urged  all  his  friends  to  read  the  Bible.  *'  You 
will  acknowledge,"  said  he,  "  that  this  is  gold.  Get  it,  then, 
fresh  from  the  mint.  Do  not  content  yourselves  with  coins 
which  have  become  defaced  from  long  circulation."  The 
appreciation  of  the  Bible  shown  in  this  Chilian's  argument 
comes  to  some  with  surprising  celerity. 

Mr.  Milne  wrote  of  one  of  his  colporteurs  who  gave  a 
copy  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  to  a  girl.  A  week  later  the 
colporteur  was  offering  his  books  in  a  coffee  shop  when  an 
elderly  gentleman  bought  a  Bible,  saying :  "  You  gave  a 
Gospel  to  one  of  my  girls.  It  was  lying  on  the  table,  when 
a  priest  came  in  and  put  it  in  his  pocket.  I  want  this  Bible 
to  take  the  place  of  that  Book.  The  priest  will  not  get 
this ! "  The  Bible  thus  produces  radical  changes  in  the 
thought  and  belief  of  many  people.  In  Peru  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Drees  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission  organised  a 
church  at  Callao  of  thirty-one  members  and  ninety-five  ad- 
herents which  had  been  built  up  entirely  through  Bible  dis- 
tribution, no  missionary  having  ever  spent  any  time  in  or- 
ganising or  any  money  in  sustaining  this  little  congregation. 

Mexico  afforded  many  instances  of  the  same  kind  of  a 
result.  At  Ville  de  Cos,  in  the  state  of  Zacatetas,  in  a  min- 
ing community  fifteen  people  who  had  received  the  Scrip- 
tures through  Mr.  Hickey  or  Mr.  Westrup  agreed  in  1868 
to  worship  together  and  study  the  New  Testament.  Later 
a  missionary  from  Monterey  visited  this  band,  administer- 
ing the  rites  of  baptism  and  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  or- 
ganised an  evangelical  church.     In  1872  out  of  this  begin- 


394  SYSTEMATISING  DISTRIBUTION      [1871- 

ning  had  grown  a  strong  church  of  one  hundred  members 
with  a  meeting  house  which  they  had  constructed  them- 
selves. General  Casey  of  the  United  States  Army,  who  had 
served  in  Mexico  and  had  become  interested  in  the  begin- 
nings of  Bible  work  there,  wrote  to  a  friend  his  views  as 
to  the  future.  One  sentence  of  this  letter  touches  the  root 
of  the  whole  matter  and  applies  to  all  the  countries  in  Latin 
America.  "  What  Mexico  needs,"  said  he,  "  above  every- 
thing else,  is  that  religion  which  is  drawn  solely  from  the 
word  of  God.  Let  it  have  that  and  material  prosperity  will 
come  in  like  a  flood."  Systematic,  continuous  dissemination 
of  the  Scriptures  is  essential  in  a  field  which  is  in  this  con- 
dition. 

Various  experiences  in  other  fields  of  the  Society  served 
in  this  period  as  reasons  for  the  establishment  of  permanent 
Agencies  abroad.  The  overthrow  of  the  French  Empire 
in  Mexico  was  the  beginning  of  American  missions  on  a 
large  scale  in  that  country.  As  we  have  already  mentioned, 
Mr.  Riley  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Christian  Union 
established  himself  in  Mexico  City  and  received  liberal  help 
from  the  Society  in  fitting  out  his  workers  with  Bibles. 
The  Society  of  Friends  established  a  mission  in  187 1  at 
Matamoras,  in  the  state  of  Tamaulipas,  and  Mr.  S.  A.  Pur- 
die,  the  leader,  was  very  glad  indeed  to  receive  from  the  So- 
ciety grants  of  books  or  of  money.  By  the  time  that  Presi- 
dent Laredo  (who  succeeded  to  power  after  the  death  of 
Juarez)  was  ousted  by  General  Diaz  in  1877,  so  that  quiet 
was  established  for  a  time  in  Mexico,  there  were  American 
missions  of  seven  different  denominations  receiving  aid 
from  the  American  Bible  Society  in  that  country.  It  was 
clearly  impossible  for  any  single  denomination  to  represent 
the  Bible  Society  in  supplying  the  others.  Yet  it  was  not 
an  efficient  method  to  ship  small  grants  to  several  missions. 
The  time  was  ripe  for  sending  out  an  Agent. 

The  Board  from  the  beginning  of  its  history  had  shrunk 
from  supporting  Agents  abroad  if  circulation  could  be  in- 
creased by  any  other  means.  It  had  not  avoided  the  ap- 
pointment of  Agents  to  supervise  the  work  of  the  Auxil- 
iaries in  the  United  States;  but  up  to  this  time  it  had  ap- 
pointed but  two  permanent  Agents  in  all  the  vast  expanses 


1891]      PERMANENT  AGENCY  FOR  MEXICO    395 

of  its  foreign  field.  It  clung  to  the  idea  that  missionaries 
would  naturally  be  glad  to  take  some  trouble  in  distributing 
books  freely  given  them  by  the  Society. 

The  missionary's  side  of  this  question  after  a  time  began 
to  assume  importance.  As  the  work  of  missionaries  in- 
creases the  difficulty  increases  of  finding  time  for  efficient 
distribution  of  the  Scriptures  which  the  Society  has  granted. 
A  time  may  come  when  any  offer  to  relieve  him  of  the  duty 
will  be  accepted  hke  help  from  the  angel  of  God. 

Out  of  the  seven  or  more  denominations  having  mission- 
aries in  Mexico  two  or  three  denominations  had  their  head- 
quarters in  Mexico  City.  It  came  to  pass  that  an  Agent 
of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  came  up  from  the 
South  and  opened  a  depository.  He  thus  began  to  make 
himself  useful  to  all  these  denominations ;  they  would  not 
have  to  write  separately  for  small  consignments  of  books 
from  New  York,  but  could  obtain  books  as  they  needed  them 
in  Mexico  City. 

Whether  this  object  lesson  had  effect  in  New  York  is  not 
absolutely  sure.  The  perplexity  of  dealing  with  different 
denominational  missions  at  such  a  distance  was  sufficient 
to  account  for  the  fact  that  in  1878  Dr.  Arthur  Gore  of 
Boston  was  appointed  Agent  of  the  American  Bible  Society 
for  the  republic  of  Mexico  and  established  himself  in  the 
City  of  Mexico  with  a  depository  in  an  eminently  suitable 
place  for  representing  effectively  his  Society. 

Dr.  Gore  felt  obliged  to  resign  his  office  before  a  year 
had  passed;  and  Rev.  H.  P.  Hamilton,  who  had  just  gradu- 
ated from  Union  Theological  Seminary  in  New  York,  was 
appointed  Agent  in  his  place.  In  1826  Rev.  Mr.  Brigham 
had  estimated  that  no  more  than  2,000  Scriptures  had  ever 
gone  into  Mexico.  During  the  twenty  years  before  Mr. 
Hamilton  took  up  the  Agency  the  Society  had  sent  to  that 
country  more  than  250,000  volumes  of  Scripture.  In  1883 
there  were  connected  with  the  American  missions  in  Mexico 
264  Evangelical  Congregations  with  40,000  adherents. 
Since  the  Society's  Bibles  had  much  to  do  with  the  building 
up  of  these  congregations,  it  was  a  happy  thought  which 
came  to  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  about  this 
time  leading  it  to  offer  to  withdraw  its  Agent  from  Mexico, 


396  SYSTEMATISING  DISTRIBUTION      [1871- 

the  American  Bible  Society  taking  over  his  stock  of  books 
at  cost.  The  arrangement  was  very  pleasantly  made  in 
1879,  and  the  question  as  to  whether  the  Bible  Society  can 
do  without  an  agent  in  Mexico  has  never  since  been  raised. 

Another  of  the  fields  where  the  Society  had  been  distrib- 
uting Bibles  by  the  aid  of  missionaries  and  other  friends 
during  some  forty  years  but  without  any  permanent  agent 
was  Brazil.  After  the  opening  of  the  Presbyterian  mission 
at  Rio  Janeiro  and  Sao  Paulo,  through  Rev.  Mr.  Simonton 
and  later  Rev.  Mr.  Blackford,  a  considerable  number  of 
Scriptures  were  sent  out  each  year  from  points  where  the 
Presbyterian  mission  established  its  outstations.  In  1876 
Mr.  Blackford  was  appointed  Agent  of  the  Society.  He 
travelled  some  3,000  miles  in  the  next  year,  visiting  thirty- 
two  cities  and  towns  and  putting  in  circulation  several  thou- 
sand volumes  chiefly  by  sale. 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Milne  had  visited  the  southern  province 
of  Brazil,  reporting  a  great  opportunity  for  Bible  work  and 
confirming  the  statement  of  Mr.  Van  Norden  that  new 
doors  of  usefulness  were  opening  all  over  Brazil,  since  so 
soon  as  people  receive  the  Bible  and  begin  to  read  it  they 
call  for  preachers  to  tell  them  what  to  do.  Under  the  lead- 
ership of  Mr.  Milne  an  Auxiliary  Bible  Society  was  formed 
in  Rio  Janeiro  which  took  up  the  supply  of  the  city  and  vi- 
cinity with  considerable  enthusiasm.  Members  of  this  So- 
ciety were  for  the  most  part  European  Protestant  residents. 
Mr.  Blackford  resigned  his  position  as  Agent  in  1880 
and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  William  M.  Brown,  a  young 
minister  just  graduated  from  Union  Theological  Semi- 
nary. 

Rev.  Mr.  Brown  did  not  long  endure  the  strains  of  his 
undertaking.  In  1886  he  reported  that  changes  in  the  social 
conditions  of  the  people  were  hindering  in  some  degree  the 
progress  of  Bible  distribution.  Since  the  suppression  of 
slavery  in  Brazil,  German  immigrants  and  Italian  labourers 
had  begun  to  pour  into  the  country.  Various  other  influ- 
ences were  at  work  to  diminish  the  number  of  Scriptures 
distributed  in  Brazil.  The  Society's  Agency  seemed 
founded  on  sand.  Some  weight  must  be  given  to  a  curious 
incident.     The   Emperor  Dom   Pedro  appeared,  after  the 


1891]      CENTRAL  AMERICA  AND  COLOMBIA    397 

fashion  of  Haroun  al  Rashid,  upon  the  platform  of  a  village 
schoolhouse  to  criticise  the  teachers  for  slackness  in  failing 
to  teach  the  children  the  Roman  Catholic  Catechism  and  in 
allowing  a  Protestant  Bible  on  the  desk.  He  made  a  defi- 
nite statement  that  energetic  measures  would  have  to  be 
taken  to  put  an  end  to  the  Protestant  propaganda.  It  so 
happened  that  for  family  reasons  Mr.  Brown  withdrew 
from  the  field  the  same  year.  His  successor  as  Agent,  Rev. 
H.  C.  Tucker  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
in  1889  wrote  with  a  keen  sense  of  a  wonderful  and  com- 
forting change :  "  Sending  away  the  Emperor  and  estab- 
lishing a  republic  in  Brazil  have  greatly  agitated  the  public 
mind.  One  act  of  the  provisional  government  has  already 
been  to  separate  the  church  and  state  and  to  proclaim  liberty 
to  all  religions."  The  permanence  of  the  Brazil  Agency  co- 
incided with  the  fall  of  the  Empire. 

The  Central  American  republics  had  not  received  much 
attention  from  the  Bible  Society  up  to  the  year  1880,  not 
because  of  lack  of  interest,  but  because  of  inaccessibility. 
The  Panama  Railroad  had  directed  a  steady  stream  of  travel 
across  the  Isthmus  and  various  missionary  organisations 
had  sought  to  care  for  the  souls  of  the  employees  on  the 
railroad  and  of  the  travellers  passing  across  the  Isthmus. 
At  the  beginning  of  this  period  Mr.  W.  L.  Thompson  at 
Panama  was  a  correspondent  of  the  Society,  receiving  small 
grants  of  Scriptures  in  Spanish  as  well  as  in  English  which 
he  distributed  as  best  he  could.  He  was  also  in  charge  of  a 
school  at  Panama  for  children  of  the  people  connected 
with  the  railroads.  In  1873  he  said:  "  My  work  is  going 
on  slowly,  but  steadily  and  surely,  and  I  now  hope  by  the 
grace  of  God  to  succeed.  I  must  also  state  that  I  do  believe 
the  time  is  approaching  for  this  people."  But  no  Agency 
was  yet  in  mind  for  Central  America. 

Closly  adjoining  the  district  of  Panama  are  the  moun- 
tainous regions  of  Colombia  which  were  a  challenge  as  well 
as  an  invitation  to  missionaries  and  to  Bible  Societies. 
There  was  very  little  possible  in  Colombia  because  of  con- 
tinual political  disturbances,  and,  even  after  missionaries 
began  to  establish  themselves  in  Guatemala  and  other  points 
in  Central  America,  it  was  years  before  an  approach  could 


398  SYSTEMATISING  DISTRIBUTION      [1871- 

be  made  to  the  interior  of  Colombia  by  any  other  route  than 
the  Hne  of  the  Magdalena  River. 

Venezuela  attracted  the  sympathy  of  the  Society  during 
this  period  by  reason  of  the  persistence  of  General  Guzman 
Blanco,  the  President,  in  his  sharp  and  liberalising  contro- 
versies with  the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy.  In  1876  the 
Board  sent  Mr.  Joaquin  De  Palma  to  Venezuela  as  a  com- 
missioner to  open  communication  with  the  friendly  members 
of  the  Government  and  to  report  upon  the  general  aspect  of 
affairs.  General  Guzman  Blanco  told  Mr.  De  Palma  that 
while  personally  interested  in  having  the  Bible  or  at  least 
the  New  Testament  introduced  in  the  public  schools  as  a 
text  book,  he  was  then  approaching  the  end  of  his  presiden- 
tial term  and  did  not  feel  disposed  to  make  any  radical 
changes  which  might  embarrass  his  successor.  Mr.  De 
Palma  waited  until  the  new  administration  was  installed 
and  found  plenty  of  encouragement  in  their  courtesies.  All 
this,  however,  seems  to  have  amounted  to  very  little  in  the 
way  of  Bible  distribution.  Ten  years  later  Mr.  Milne  from 
Montevideo,  with  Mr.  Penzotti,  his  assistant,  visited  Ca- 
racas and  were  shocked  to  discover  no  trace  whatever  of 
certain  "  Bible  Committees  "  hopefully  organised  by  Mr. 
De  Palma.  Mr.  Milne  and  his  companion  lost  about  a 
month  of  precious  time  through  allowing  themselves  to  trust 
the  empty  promises  of  ministers  of  government.  They  ap- 
pointed as  colporteurs  of  the  Society  some  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  but  insisted  that  Bible  work  in  Vene- 
zuela could  not  be  effectively  pressed  unless  an  energetic 
Agent  was  placed  in  charge.  This  urgent  advice  was 
heeded  by  the  Board. 

In  1887  the  Rev.  W.  M.  Patterson.  D.D.,  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Mission  in  Mexico  was  appointed  Agent  for 
Venezuela.  Dr.  Patterson  found  the  country  more  difficult 
as  a  field  for  Bible  work  than  had  been  imagined.  Men, 
women,  and  children  had  been  carefully  taught  by  the 
priests  not  only  to  resist  offers  of  the  Scriptures,  but  to 
answer  the  arguments  of  colporteurs  who  pressed  Scriptures 
upon  them.  The  case  called  for  missionaries  to  be  sent  to 
Venezuela,  at  least  to  Caracas.  Once  more  the  Society 
suffered  disappointment  in  its  plans  for  this  territory  where 


1891]        AMERICAN  MISSIONS  IN  INDIA  399 

so  long  it  had  sought  an  opening  for  its  Bibles.  Dr.  Pat- 
terson officiated  at  the  funeral  of  an  acquaintance  in  Mara- 
caibo.  The  man  had  died  of  yellow  fever.  After  his  re- 
turn to  Caracas,  Dr.  Patterson  was  attacked  by  the  disease 
and  died  August  19th,  1889.  But  happily  there  was  no  dis- 
position on  the  part  of  the  Society  to  cease  its  efforts.  In 
1890  the  Rev.  Joseph  Norwood,  formerly  a  missionary  in 
Peru,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  was  ap- 
pointed Agent  of  the  Society  for  Venezuela. ^ 

Curious  problems  in  due  course  emerged  in  other  coun- 
tries where  missionaries  attended  to  the  distribution  of  the 
Society's  books,  emphasising  the  need  of  some  direct  care 
of  such  work  by  the  Board  when  missions  grow.  For  years 
the  Board  had  made  liberal  grants  of  money  to  American 
missions  in  Ceylon,  in  South  India,  in  the  Bombay  Presi- 
dency and  in  some  parts  of  North  India.  At  the  time  of 
the  opening  of  the  American  missions  thus  aided  there  was 
great  need  of  help  for  Bible  work.  In  fact,  for  a  time  the 
largest  proportion  of  the  money  used  in  Ceylon  by  the  Jaffna 
Auxiliary  Society  (British)  came  from  the  American  Bible 
Society.  Somewhat  the  same  situation  existed  during  the 
early  years  of  the  Madras  Auxiliary  of  the  British  Society, 
for  it  was  glad  to  get  at  least  half  of  the  money  for  certain 
publications  from  the  grants  made  to  American  missionaries 
by  the  American  Bible  Society.  Similar  needs  led  to  the 
grants  to  American  Missions  for  printing  in  Marathi,  and 
in  Punjabi,  Hindustani,  etc.  (in  North  India).  The  grants 
of  money  to  American  missions  in  India  during  this  period 
amounted  to  $44,225. 

But  it  came  to  pass  during  the  present  period  pf  our  story 
that  the  American  missionaries  in  South  India  began  to 
find  colporteurs  of  the  local  British  Auxiliaries  so  vigor- 
ously canvassing  the  American  mission^  fields  as  to  leave 
hardly  any  opportunity  for  missionaries  to  sell  books. 
Similar  word  came  from  the  region  of  the  Punjab  where 
a  vigorous  Auxiliary  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  So- 
ciety had  been  formed.  There,  finally,  about  1886  the  Brit- 
ish Auxiliary  bought  from  the  Presbyterian  Lodiana  mis- 
sion the  whole  stock  of  Scriptures  remaining  in  hand  from 
those  printed  with  the  aid  of  the  American  Bible  Society. 


400     SYSTEMATISING  DISTRIBUTION     [1871-1891 

One  of  the  missionaries  put  the  case  of  the  mission  as  to 
distribution  of  books  in  an  entirely  new  light  when  he  men- 
tioned how  great  a  relief  it  was  to  be  delivered  from  the 
burden  of  book  distribution  which  hitherto  had  rested  heav- 
ily upon  his  shoulders,  but  which  hereafter  would  be  car- 
ried by  the  local  Auxiliary  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society. 

In  each  of  these  cases  the  question  naturally  arises 
whether  it  was  wise  on  the  part  of  the  American  Society 
to  overburden  missionaries  already  perplexed  by  the  multi- 
plicity of  their  cares  —  educational,  pastoral,  and  evangelis- 
tic—  in  rapidly  growing  fields,  merely  for  the  sake  of  sav- 
ing the  sum  which  would  have  been  necessary  to  provide  an 
Agent  capable  of  handling  the  enterprises  which  the  Society 
had  been  so  eager  to  initiate.  How^ever  this  may  be,  these 
experiences  offered  their  own  proof  of  the  necessity  of  the 
appointment  in  every  large  field  of  a  man  able  to  see  ac- 
curately, report  clearly,  and  execute  faithfully  instructions 
from  the  Board  —  a  man,  in  fact,  whom  the  Board  could 
fully  trust  as  its  envoy  and  ambassador.  It  was  during  this 
period,  then,  that  decisions  were  finally  taken  which  led  to 
the  establishment  of  the  most  of  the  Society's  foreign  Agen- 


1  In  1891  the  foreign  Agencies  of  the  Society  with  the  dates  of 
their  organisation  were  as  follows : 

Levant    1836  Mexico     1878 

La  Plata    1864  Persia     1880 

Japan    1876  Cuba    1882 

China    1876  Venezuela    1888 

Brazil   1876  Siam    1890 


CHAPTER  XLV 

THE   CALL  OF   THE   FAR   EAST 

The  decision  of  the  Society  to  appoint  an  Agent  to  su- 
perintend Bible  distribution  in  China  was  reached  after 
several  very  urgent  appeals  from  missionaries.  The  gen- 
eral missionary  work  was  growing.  It  was  beyond  the 
strength  of  the  missionaries  to  guide  inquirers  in  their  home 
station  and  also  to  press  distribution  of  the  Scriptures  in 
outlying  regions.  In  1875  Rev.  Dr.  N.  G.  Clark,  Secretary 
of  the  American  Board  of  Missions,  urged  the  Board  of 
Managers  to  realise  what  might  be  accomplished  at  that 
stage  of  affairs  if  500,000  copies  of  the  Scriptures  in  Chi- 
nese could  be  put  into  circulation  at  once.  Such  a  sowing 
of  seed,  he  judged,  could  only  be  executed  by  Bible  Society 
men,  devoted  entirely  to  the  one  work. 

Partly  because  of  this  appeal.  Rev.  Luther  H.  Gulick, 
M.D.,  formerly  a  missionary  of  the  American  Board  in 
Micronesia,  was  appointed  Agent  of  the  American  Bible 
Society  for  Japan  and  China,  and  reached  Yokohama  early 
in  1876,  full  of  interest  in  the  project  of  increasing  the  cir- 
culation of  the  Scriptures  in  these  two  wonderful  countries 
of  the  Far  East.  Dr.  Gulick's  first  impression  of  Ningpo, 
China,  was  characteristic.  "This  city,"  said  he,  "was 
founded  about  the  time  of  the  prophet  Isaiah  and  now, 
about  twenty-six  centuries  later,  the  prophesies  of  Isaiah  are 
only  beginning  to  reach  Ningpo." 

At  this  time  the  Society  had  been  giving  grants  in  aid  to 
American  missions  in  China  during  some  forty  years.  The 
missions  were  of  eight  denominations,  besides  the  China 
Inland  Mission  which  was  international  and  interdenomina- 
tional. The  American  Missions  which  had  printing  presses 
were  the  Methodist  Episcopal  at  Fuchow,  the  Presbyterian 

401 


402  THE  CALL  OF  THE  FAR  EAST        [1871- 

mission  at  Shanghai  (then  unquestionably  the  finest  print- 
ing house  in  China),  and  the  American  Board's  mission  in 
Northern  China  at  Peking.  At  all  of  these  places  and  many 
others  the  missions  had  important  congregations.  The 
American  Protestant  Episcopal  mission  at  Shanghai  had  ex- 
tended its  work  up  the  Yangtze  River  to  Hankow.  The 
American  Board's  mission  at  Peking,  Tungchow  and  Tient- 
sien,  had  reached  out  to  the  gateway  of  Mongolia  at  Kal- 
gan,  there  supplying  Arabic  as  well  as  Mongolian  Scriptures 
to  the  people  of  the  caravans  from  the  desert.  American 
missionaries  had  also  reached  out  into  West  China  as  far 
as  to  Si  Ngan  fu,  the  outpost  of  ancient  Nestorian  missions; 
distributing  large  numbers  of  Scriptures  by  sale  in  the  prov- 
inces of  Shansi  and  Shensi,  and  everywhere  being  courte- 
ously received.  The  prospect  for  Bible  distribution  was  in- 
viting. 

The  missionaries  had  employed  a  few  colporteurs  at  the 
expense  of  the  Bible  Society,  but  it  was  very  difficult  to  find 
suitable  men;  men  with  really  spiritual  insight  and  able  to 
understand  thoroughly  the  object  of  the  Gospel  or  other 
Portion  which  they  were  sent  to  sell  to  the  people.  Much 
of  the  work  of  the  missionaries  in  the  line  of  Bible  distribu- 
tion for  this  reason  was  as  uncertain  as  the  steering  of  a 
ship  at  sea  in  a  fog.  One  satisfaction  of  the  missionaries 
at  this  juncture  was  the  fact  that  the  Bible  in  some  degree 
pre-empted  the  field  of  literature  so  far  as  the  common  peo- 
ple were  concerned.  In  different  parts  of  China  the  Holy 
Scriptures  had  been  circulated  in  Chinese  before  any  other 
work  whatever  brought  from  Western  nations  had  been 
translated  into  Chinese. 

By  this  time  realisation  had  come  to  the  most  of  the  mis- 
sions that  in  a  country  like  China  gratuitous  circulation  of 
Scriptures  was  not  wise.  To  decide  what  proportion  of 
the  cost  of  the  Scriptures  should  be  fixed  as  the  price  of 
the  books,  then  became  a  serious  matter.  In  many  cases 
the  price  was  one-fifth,  sometimes  one-half  of  the  actual 
cost  of  the  books,  and  sometimes  a  merely  nominal  sum. 
Such  a  course  is  the  only  one  practicable  in  countries  where 
money  is  scarce  or  entirely  absent.  In  Micronesia  payment 
for  Scriptures  has  been  made   in  cocoanut  fibre  and  oil. 


1891]  WHERE  MONEY  IS  SCARCE  403 

Dr.  Jacob  Chamberlain  on  one  tour  in  India  accepted  shells 
from  the  seashore  instead  of  coin  as  payment  for  Bibles. 
In  Western  Africa  Presbyterian  missionaries  have  accepted 
fish,  fowls,  fruit,  building  materials,  and  anything  that  the 
people  can  give  as  payment  for  books.  The  two  volumes 
of  the  Mpongwe  Bible  which  cost  in  New  York  $4.50  were 
sold  on  the  field  for  one  dollar.  But  there  was  no  dollar  on 
the  Gaboon.  Four  yards  of  print  worth  in  America  seven 
or  eight  cents  a  yard,  were  rated  as  a  dollar.  The  cheapest 
edition  of  the  Society's  Mandarin  Version  of  the  Bible  cost 
thirty-eight  cents.  The  single  Gospels  in  Chinese  cost  one 
and  one-half  cents  apiece;  but  to  the  poor  they  were  sold 
at  half  a  cent  each  or  less.  Before  the  end  of  this  period, 
when  the  number  of  Christians  was  multiplied,  one  edition 
of  the  Bible  in  Chinese  was  printed  on  foreign  paper  with 
elegant  binding  and  was  sold  at  two  dollars  a  copy.  The 
same  book  printed  on  Chinese  paper  in  the  Chinese  style 
was  sold  at  twenty-five  cents  a  copy.  In  fixing  prices  for 
the  Scriptures  the  general  principle  is  that  books  are  prized 
by  those  who  pay  something;  but  in  dealing  with  poverty- 
stricken  people  those  who  circulate  the  Bible  have  to  use 
great  discretion,  however  large  a  draft  the  distribution  may 
make  upon  charitable  funds. 

Greater  than  poverty  as  an  obstacle  to  Bible  distribution 
in  China  was  the  illiteracy  of  the  people.  The  missionaries 
had  found  by  experience  a  living  hope  for  the  country  in 
the  willingness  of  the  people  to  learn  to  read,  although  there 
was  no  widespread  ability  to  do  so.  A  man  would  pass  as 
"  literary  "  who  knew  only  a  few  Chinese  characters.  But 
such  a  one  on  getting  a  Gospel  would  proceed  like  a  child 
with  a  picture  puzzle.  By  persistently  trying  and  asking, 
he  could  little  by  little  master  a  whole  line,  and  then  a  whole 
page;  and  by  that  time  some  idea  of  the  subject  of  the  book 
would  encourage  him  to  analyse  still  more  of  the  unknown 
characters. 

Two  things  took  place  in  China  upon  the  arrival  of  Dr. 
Gulick.  In  the  first  place  a  number  of  foreign  colporteurs 
were  engaged,  men  of  ability  and  tested  Christian  character 
who  would  go  into  the  field  themselves  to  sell  books  and  who 
would  each  take  charge  of  a  band  of  native  colporteurs  to 


404  THE  CALL  OF  THE  FAR  EAST        [1871- 

whom  they  could  impart  something  of  the  energy  and  hardi- 
hood necessary  for  the  work.  In  the  second  place,  the 
number  of  colporteurs  working  under  the  direction  of  mis- 
sionaries was  increased  in  different  parts  of  the  field.  With 
this  introduction  of  system  also  commenced  a  full  and  ac- 
curate accounting  for  all  books  distributed.  Before  long 
there  had  been  organised  a  band  of  eight  foreign  colpor- 
teurs, each  one  of  them  superintending  six  or  eight  natives 
who  steadily  gained  skill  in  Bible  distribution.  Dr.  Gulick 
also  employed  fifty-two  colporteurs  supervised  by  Ameri- 
can missionaries  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  By 
these  means  the  circulation  of  Scriptures  in  China  increased 
six  fold  during  the  twelve  years  of  Dr.  Gulick's  service. 

The  experiences  of  the  colporteurs  were  varied,  but  their 
enthusiasm  was  always  at  a  high  point.  One  of  these  men, 
Mr.  Gordon,  went  up  the  Yangtse  River  on  a  Bible  Society 
house-boat  named  in  Chinese,  "  The  Glad-tidings  Ship." 
His  line  of  distribution  was  immediately  along  the  shores 
of  the  river.  He  carried  with  him  three  months'  supply 
of  books,  travelled  more  than  a  thousand  miles  and  dis- 
posed of  more  than  two  thousand  Gospels. 

In  1887  Mr.  Prothero,  another  colporteur,  with  six  na- 
tives was  the  first  successfully  to  distribute  Scriptures  in 
Changte,  the  capital  of  the  fanatical  province  of  Hunan. 
The  province  had  many  times  previously  been  entered  by 
missionaries  and  Bible  Agents,  who  had  been  politely  but 
speedily  turned  away.  Mr.  Prothero  took  six  picked  men 
into  Hunan  by  way  of  the  Tung  Ting  Lake  and  sent  them 
to  canvass  the  country.  Three  of  the  men  sprinkled  the 
city  of  Changte  with  a  shower  of  Gospels  before  the  authori- 
ties observed  their  presence.  In  the  course  of  three  months' 
work  this  expedition  put  into  circulation  in  Hunan  ten 
thousand  Gospels  and  one  hundred  New  Testaments,  almost 
all  of  them  sold  and  paid  for.  Mr.  Copp,  another  of  the 
Bible  Society  colporteurs,  in  1886  marched  westward  to  the 
confines  of  Thibet,  leaving  his  family  at  Chungking  in  the 
province  of  Szechuan  where  were  several  other  missionaries' 
families.  When  he  came  back  from  his  adventurous  tour 
it  was  to  find  his  house  and  in  fact  all  the  missionary  houses 
in  Chungking  looted  and  destroyed  in  one  of  those  sudden 


1891]  MERCHANT  AS  COLPORTEUR  405 

and  inexplicable  outbreaks  which  are  not  rare  in  Chinese 
annals.     Happily  the  inmates  had  escaped  to  Ichang. 

In  the  province  of  Kansuh  the  colporteurs  were  rather 
disheartened  by  passing  over  districts  where  one  might 
travel  the  whole  day  without  seeing  a  man  or  a  house. 
Mr.  Thorne,  another  of  the  Society's  colporteurs,  gives  a 
suggestion  in  regard  to  work  in  such  places.  He  observes 
that  the  most  forbidding  looking  people  in  the  most  wretched 
of  places  are  sometimes  just  those  whom  God  would  not 
have  the  colporteur  turn  his  back  upon.  Those  who  live 
off  from  the  road,  on  the  side  of  a  higher  hill,  or  deep 
below,  where  the  hills  divide ;  far  enough  away  to  make  it 
an  effort  and  loss  of  time  to  climb  —  the  colporteur  has  to 
think  of  the  possibility  that  just  such  a  place  is  the  one 
which  he  should  visit. 

Mr.  Thome  was  a  rare  character.  He  served  the  Bible 
Society  nine  years  as  a  colporteur.  Dr.  Gulick  having  found 
him  working  in  connection  with  the  American  Mission  at 
Nanking.  He  had  made  a  fortune  in  California  and  lost  it, 
had  been  a  merchant  prince  in  Shanghai,  where  he  lost 
another  fortune.  Finally  he  had  attached  himself  to  the 
mission  station  with  the  desire  of  doing  something  for  the 
good  of  the  Chinese,  learning  the  language,  and  taking  up 
with  enthusiasm  the  distribution  work  which  Dr.  Gulick 
placed  in  his  hands.  In  some  of  the  villages  along  the 
canal  in  the  region  of  Tsingho,  the  multitude  of  people  in 
the  street  was  such  that  no  one  could  stop  moving  a  moment 
without  cries  of  protest  from  others  whose  way  was 
blocked.  Mr.  Thome  was  a  tall,  conspicuous  figure  and 
some  of  the  people  made  it  very  disagreeable  for  him  by 
taking  small  children  and  throwing  them  in  his  way  in  hope 
that  he  might  stumble  over  them.  One  child  who  had 
fallen  against  his  feet  was  crying.  Mr.  Thorne  picked  him 
up,  and  at  the  same  instant  another  child  used  as  a  projectile 
was  caromed  from  his  side  into  a  tub  of  fish.  Happily,  Mr. 
Thorne  was  able  to  see  and  catch  the  man  who  had  thrown 
the  second  child,  and  him  he  presented  to  the  fish-peddler. 
The  altercation  which  followed  between  the  two  Chinamen 
left  Mr.  Thorne  free  to  go  his  way  unmolested.  But  his 
heart  was  deeply  moved  at  the  apparently  sincere  desire  of 


4o6  THE  CALL  OF  THE  FAR  EAST        [1871- 

the  people  to  get  his  books.  In  one  village,  after  he  had 
left,  having  distributed  all  that  he  had,  he  heard  a  voice 
calling  after  him,  "Oh,  Foreign  Devil;  Foreign  Devil! 
Please  come  back.  More  men  are  coming  to  get  your 
books." 

Another  colporteur  describes  his  sensations  in  going 
through  the  streets  of  the  city  jostled  on  one  side  by  a 
small-pox  patient  and  on  the  other  by  a  poor  creature  white 
with  leprosy.  In  such  a  crowd  he  might  perhaps  meet  no 
adventure,  but  on  the  other  hand  a  man  inclined  to  trick 
foreigners  might  come  up  behind  him,  speaking  over  his  left 
shoulder,  and  at  the  same  time  removing  a  good  handful 
of  "  cash  "  from  the  colporteur's  right  hand  pocket.  Never- 
theless, it  was  the  universal  testimony  of  the  missionaries 
that  foreigners  could  sell  more  readily  than  natives  in  those 
beginnings  of  the  Society's  China  Agency.  Dr.  Fitch  of 
Suchow  said  that  native  colporteurs  were  apt  to  be  despised 
and  railed  at  by  the  crowd,  whereas  a  foreigner  would  be 
listened  to  and  treated  with  more  or  less  respect.  Mr. 
Porter  of  the  American  Board's  mission  said  that  the  mere 
fact  of  the  foreigner's  being  able  to  talk  Chinese  was 
enough  to  win  buyers.  Native  help,  however,  was  always 
necessary  to  handle  the  money  taken  in,  although  the  sum 
was  often  ridiculously  small.  A  colporteur  on  a  prosperous 
day  will  sell  Scriptures  for  3,000  "  cash,"  paid  five  or  ten 
cash  at  a  time.  Rev.  Mr.  Du  Bose  of  Suchow  notes  that 
it  commonly  took  his  assistant  two  hours  to  count  the  re- 
ceipts of  such  a  day  of  book  selling;  the  three  thousand  cash 
being  worth  about  three  dollars. 

For  this  great  undertaking  the  men  chosen  by  the  Society 
were  always  men  of  special  ability,  tested  in  missionary 
work,  cultured,  acquainted  with  the  language,  ready  to  turn 
to  any  branch  of  the  service.  Mr.  James  Ware  employed 
in  distribution  by  the  Society  for  many  years  was  valuable 
not  only  as  a  colporteur  and  as  manager  of  the  Society's 
office  at  Shanghai,  but  was  a  skilled  translator  of  the  Scrip- 
tures in  one  of  the  colloquial  dialects. 

Two  acts  of  permanent  importance  marked  the  missionary 
history  of  this  period.  In  1877  the  missions  of  all  de- 
nominations working  in  China  held  a  conference  at  Shang- 


1891]       THE  CHINESE  CHRISTIAN  BODY  407 

hai.  Including  the  Bible  Societies,  about  twenty  mission- 
ary bodies  were  represented  in  the  conference.  The  mere 
ability  to  spend  fourteen  days  in  discussing  aspirations  and 
methods  encouraged  a  spirit  of  fraternity,  while  the  inter- 
change of  thought  and  the  comparison  of  methods  stimu- 
lated greater  endeavour.  The  second  of  the  two  important 
missionary  acts  was  another  conference  held  at  Shanghai 
in  1890.  About  430  persons,  men  and  women,  coming  from 
every  part  of  China  and  representing  forty-two  missionary 
organisations,  were  members  of  the  Conference.  Such  an 
act  as  the  assembling  of  the  conference  was  of  great  signifi- 
cance. The  reports  presented  at  this  conference  of  1890 
showed  a  greater  growth  than  was  expected  in  the  Chinese 
Christian  community.  The  number  of  native  communi- 
cants at  520  church  centres  was  37,287.  The  unanimous 
agreement  of  this  body  upon  the  question  of  unifying  the 
Chinese  versions  favoured  yet  more  rapid  growth. 

The  range  of  the  Society's  work  of  Bible  distribution  was 
far  greater  than  would  at  first  appear.  Every  sale  of  a 
single  Gospel  in  China  might  be  deemed  a  step  toward  the 
conversion  of  the  nation.  From  the  widely  distributed  por- 
tions of  Scriptures,  thousands  of  people  in  all  parts  of  the 
Empire  learned  the  name  of  Jesus.  An  experienced  Bible 
Society  colporteur  in  China  could  reach  places  where  a 
foreign  missionary  could  not  and  a  native  preacher  would 
not  go.  Those  engaged  in  such  distribution,  though  num- 
bered by  the  hundred  and  the  thousand,  must  each  feel  in 
that  teeming  population  like  a  lone  farmer  undertaking 
to  seed  a  section  of  600  acres  of  land.  How  is  it  to  be 
done?  Who  will  care  for  its  culture?  Who  will  garner 
the  fruit? 

The  seed  of  the  word  was  often  slow  to  show  any  green 
blade  of  promise.  The  case  of  Li  of  the  province  of  Honan 
was  a  type  of  the  long  waiting  that  China  imposes  upon  the 
missionary.  He  was  unsettled  in  his  mind,  dissatisfied  with 
the  religious  teachings  of  his  ancestors ;  then  he  found  at  a 
wayside  book  shop  a  copy  of  the  book  of  Acts  which  he 
carried  home.  It  took  him  a  year  or  two  to  find  an  intel- 
ligible or  sane  idea  in  the  little  book ;  but  after  seven  years 
he  had  pieced  together  the  various  strange  statements  and 


4o8  THE  CALL  OF  THE  FAR  EAST        [1871- 

found  that  he  had  a  wonderful  record  of  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  Christ.  His  old  mother  was  also  interested  in  what 
he  found  in  that  book,  and  she  finally  told  her  son  that  he 
must  go  ask  the  foreigners  at  Hankow.  He  must  make 
haste  because  she  was  growing  old  and  must  know  more 
about  this  matter.  The  man  travelled  twenty  days  to 
Hankow,  In  some  perplexity  he  was  going  along  the  street 
of  the  city  when  he  came  to  a  chapel  where  a  preacher 
was  setting  forth  the  gospel.  It  did  not  take  him  very  long 
to  perceive  that  here  was  what  he  had  come  to  find.  In 
due  time  he  was  baptised.  Provided  with  a  Bible  he 
tramped  back  the  twenty  days'  journey  to  give  his  mother 
the  news  for  which  she  longed  about  the  ''  Jesus  religion." 

A  colporteur  from  Peking  travelling  through  the  country 
stopped  at  a  village  inn  and  mentioned  that  he  was  selling 
books  of  the  "  Jesus  religion."  The  inn-keeper  said, 
''  There  is  an  old  crank  here  in  the  village  who  will  not  bow 
down  to  idols  and  is  all  the  time  talking  about  Jesus."  The 
colporteur  sought  the  man  out  and  found  that  he  had  pos- 
sessed for  twelve  years  some  Christian  literature.  He  did 
not  know  where  to  find  any  one  that  could  inform  him  about 
it,  but  all  alone,  in  that  unsympathising,  jeering  crowd,  he 
had  done  what  he  could  to  conform  his  life  to  the  gospel 
teaching.  As  Rev.  Mr.  Du  Bose  of  Suchow  said:  "  Grant 
that  a  large  number  of  these  books  will  be  destroyed,  some 
burned,  some  unread,  some  laid  aside  on  shelves  and  for- 
gotten ;  it  will  not  be  so  with  all  of  them !  " 

It  is  worth  noting  just  here  that  all  the  hindrances  met  by 
this  work  do  not  have  their  source  in  China.  In  1890  one 
of  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  American  Bible  Society  called 
the  attention  of  the  Board  to  the  Chinese  Exclusion  Bill 
then  pending  in  Congress  which  must  necessarily  have  effect 
in  limiting  freedom  of  movement  of  Americans  in  China. 
In  fact  a1)out  the  same  time  an  American  Bible  Society  col- 
porteur found  himself  unable  to  sell  any  books  in  Hongkong 
because  a  boycott  was  declared  against  American  goods 
when  the  Chinese  Exclusion  laws  went  into  effect  in  the 
United  States. 

In  1 881  the  Agency  was  divided,  Japan  being  assigned  to 
Rev.  Henry  Loomis,  while  Dr.  Gulick  was  transferred  to 


1891]      THE  SOCIETY'S  AGENCY  IN  SIAM         409 

Shanghai  to  develop  the  China  Agency.  Dr.  Gulick  threw 
his  whole  strength  into  the  work  for  China.  It  was  barely 
seven  years  later  that  his  health  gave  way.  During  his  ad- 
ministration 2,000,000  volumes  were  issued  by  the  Society 
in  China,  almost  all  of  them  being  sold;  and  in  each  case 
with  some  acquaintance  on  the  part  of  the  purchaser  with 
the  Christian  quality  of  the  colporteur  who  sold  them. 
Such  acquaintance  may  be  a  vivid  interpretation  of  the 
teachings  of  the  book  when  a  pagan  cautiously  inclines  to 
buy  it.  In  May  1889  Dr.  Gulick  escaped  from  China  for 
a  vacation  rest;  he  resigned  his  commission  as  Agent  in 
June  1890,  and  in  March  1891  he  passed  to  the  better  land. 
Mr.  James  Dalzell  who  had  served  as  book-keeper  in  the 
office  at  Shanghai,  took  charge  of  the  Agency  until  the  ap- 
pointment of  Rev.  L.  L.  Wheeler,  D.D.,  in  1890  as  succes- 
sor to  Dr.  Gulick,  but  Mr.  Dalzell  died  before  Dr.  Wheeler 
arrived,  leaving  Mr.  James  Ware  and  Mr.  A.  A.  Copp  to 
care  for  the  Agency  affairs. 

The  Southwestern  frontier  of  China  reaches  down  in  an 
almost  unknown  loop  to  the  borders  of  Burma  and  Siam, 
and  the  Laos  people  of  Siam  are  near  of  kin  to  the  moun- 
taineers of  those  Chinese  borders.  In  1876  Siam  was  in- 
cluded in  the  field  of  the  China  Agency.  The  American 
Board  had  the  initiative  in  work  for  Siam,  but  the  mission 
later  had  been  transferred  to  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Missionaries  freely  went  about  the  country,  although  travel 
was  difficult.  It  used  to  be  said  that  a  longer  time  was  re- 
quired to  go  from  Bangkok  to  the  northern  part  of  the  Laos 
district  than  from  Bangkok  to  New  York.  The  extent  of 
the  country  and  the  interest  shown  by  the  people,  especially 
in  its  northern  part  led  the  Society  in  1889  to  constitute 
Siam  a  separate  Agency.  The  Rev.  John  Carrington,  pas- 
tor of  a  Presbyterian  Church  in  San  Francisco,  was  selected 
to  be  the  Society's  Agent.  He  had  spent  about  six  years 
as  a  missionary  in  Siam,  submerged,  as  it  were,  in  the 
masses  until  he  had  absorbed  knowledge  of  the  Siamese 
and  of  their  tongue.  He  rendered  important  aid  in  printing 
the  Scriptures  in  Siamese  and  in  Laos ;  and  his  devotion  to 
Bible  ilistribution  was  a  beautiful  illustration  of  utter  self- 
abnegation  in  the  name  of  Christ. 


4IO         THE  CALL  OF  THE  FAR  EAST     [1871-1891 

The  record  of  these  Agencies,  while  showing  growth  as 
the  missionary  enterprise  grew,  cannot  but  emphasise  the 
quahty  of  the  men  supphed  by  the  missions  for  the  service 
of  the  Society.  Through  the  consecration  and  efficiency  of 
these  men  the  Society  was  able  to  hear  and  heed  the  call  of 
the  far  East. 


CHAPTER  XLVI 

JAPAN   AND   KOREA 

Long  before  Dr.  Gulick  had  finished  his  first  year  at 
Yokohama  as  Agent  for  the  Society,  he  was  chafing  at  the 
smallness  of  the  trifles  which  occupied  his  time  every  day. 
He  had  arrived  at  Yokohama  in  January,  1876;  and  it 
seerned  as  if  the  whole  year  was  occupied  in  getting  his 
bearings,  learning  what  he  must  not  do,  and  in  waiting  for 
some  clearly  important  work  to  occupy  his  time.  As  many 
others  have  done  in  similar  circumstances.  Dr.  Gulick  did 
whatever  came  to  his  hand,  reassuring  himself  by  reflect- 
ing that  the  seemingly  futile  activities  of  every  day  might 
have  importance  in  the  use  made  by  them  by  his  Divine 
Master.  At  the  beginning  of  his  work  he  learned  the  lesson 
of  **  waiting  on  the  Lord." 

One  of  the  pleasant  experiences  of  his  first  year  was  the 
printing  by  the  Society  of  the  Gospels  of  Matthew  and 
Mark  in  the  revised  form  prepared  by  the  Committee  of 
Missionaries.  A  part  of  the  edition  was  furnished  to  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  and  a  part  to  the  National 
Bible  Society  of  Scotland;  and  it  was  noted  in  the  report 
that  the  number  of  Japanese  Scriptures  stated  as  issued  did 
not  include  14,000  volumes  sold  to  the  British  Societies. 

The  New  Testament  was  published  in  four  different 
forms:  one  to  fit  conservative  classical  scholars  who  loved 
the  Chinese  style ;  another  for  less  cultured  readers ;  a  third 
for  the  lover  of  plain  Japanese  writing ;  and  a  fourth  with 
the  Roman  letters  for  the  benefit  of  Japanese  who  were 
newly  learning  to  read  and  for  foreigners  newly  learning 
the  Japanese  language.  Rev.  Dr.  Davis  of  the  American 
Board's  Mission  said  that  the  publication  by  the  Society  of 
the  New  Testament  in  Japanese  and  of  the  whole  Bible  in 
''  Kunten "  Chinese  ^  has  made  it  possible  at  last  for  all 

1  This  was  the  Chinese  Bridgman-Culbertson  Version,  with  Japa- 
nese diacritical  marks  to  indicate  the  pronunciation  and  the  order  of 
words. 

411 


412  JAPAN  AND  KOREA  [1871- 

Chrislian  workers  in  Japan  to  press  on  the  work  of  preach- 
ing which  they  came  out  to  do. 

In  ]\Iay,  1877,  the  depository  of  the  Society  was  opened 
in  Yokohama.  This  step  w^as  approved  by  all  the  American 
missionaries,  and  the  site  selected  was  the  very  best  possible 
in  the  whole  city.  Up  to  the  first  of  January,  1880,  Dr. 
Gulick  reported  that  thousands  of  Chinese  Testaments  and 
hundreds  of  Bibles  had  been  put  in  circulation  in  Japan, 
besides  100,000  New  Testament  portions. 

The  question  of  Bible  circulation  in  Japan  became  im- 
portant even  before  the  Japanese  New  Testament  was  fin- 
ished in  1880.  The  repeal  of  the  anti-Christian  laws  in 
1872  opened  the  way  for  Bible  colportage.  The  first  col- 
porteur sent  out  by  the  Society  was  the  Rev.  J.  Coble  of  the 
American  Free  Baptist  Mission.  Mr.  Coble  had  translated 
into  Japanese  and  published  in  1871  the  first  version  of  the 
Cospel  of  St.  Matthew  in  Japanese.  Printing  the  Scrip- 
tures was  a  somewhat  dangerous  occupation  in  Japan  at 
that  time.  Mr.  Coble  wrote  of  his  experience:  "I  tried 
in  Yokohama  to  get  the  blocks  cut  for  printing,  but  all 
seemed  afraid  to  undertake  it,  I  was  only  able  to  get  it 
done  in  Tokio  by  a  man  who,  I  think,  did  not  knozi^  the  na- 
ture of  the  book  upon  which  he  zvas  working. " 

When  the  books  were  printed  Mr.  Coble  induced  a  few 
people  to  accept  Cospels  and  he  was  happy.  But  his  hopes 
were  dashed.  Every  volume  was  carefully  secured  by  the 
poHce  authorities  and  returned  to  him  with  the  injunction 
to  refrain  from  circulating  such  books.  The  demand  was 
even  made  that  Christian  Scriptures  in  Chinese  belonging  to 
the  missionaries  themselves  should  all  be  given  up  to  the 
native  authorities.  But,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Ameri- 
can Consul,  that  demand  was  successfully  resisted. 

During  October  and  November,  1879,  ^^^'  Goble  made 
two  tours  for  the  Society,  one  of  twenty-four  days  and  one 
of  eighteen,  in  regions  to  the  north  and  east  of  Tokio.  He 
had  with  him  a  Japanese  convert  well-known  for  his  piety 
and  Christian  zeal.  They  went  from  town  to  town  and 
village  to  village  perched  on  the  top  of  queer  pack  saddles, 
or  riding  in  jinrickishas  or  making  use  of  small  river 
steamers  whenever  practicable.     They  made  arrangements 


1891]  NEW  CONVERTS  HELP  413 

with  120  different  parties,  mainly  book-sellers,  to  take  Chris- 
tian Scriptures  on  sale.  Several  times  they  were  cheered  by 
meeting  little  bands  of  Christians.  "  One  day,  while  walk- 
ing quietly  along  the  dark  road  a  number  of  farmers  sprang 
up  and  almost  frightened  us  by  their  eagerness  to  know  who 
we  were  and  what  was  our  business.  Before  answering  I 
asked,  *  Who  are  you  ?  '  and  they  promptly  replied  '  We  are 
Christians,'  and  when  we  told  them  our  errand  they  seemed 
very  much  pleased."  Only  once  did  the  colporteurs  meet 
with  any  decided  opposition,  but  they  were  sure  that  in 
due  time  that  city,  Mito,  would  become  one  of  the  most 
interesting  mission  fields. 

It  was  a  surprise  to  find  that  book-sellers  were  willing 
to  keep  the  Scriptures  in  stock  and  that  as  the  number  of 
Christians  in  the  country  increased,  they  also  aided  the  wide 
dissemination  of  the  book  which  they  loved.  At  Okayama 
the  American  mission  had  the  New  Testament  for  sale  in 
its  little  book  shop  on  a  side  street.  Few  purchasers  ap- 
peared and  some  one  suggested  that  perhaps  a  Japanese 
book-seller  on  the  main  street  would  be  willing  to  handle  the 
book.  He  was  glad  to  try  the  experiment,  took  the  New 
Testament  at  a  venture,  advertised  it,  and  immediately 
began  to  sell  considerable  quantities.  Few  remember,  when 
talking  of  Bible  circulation  in  one  of  the  missionary  fields, 
that  the  vogue  of  the  Scriptures  is  something  like  the  growth 
of  a  snowball  which  the  children  roll  until  it  becomes  a 
splendid  mass  high  as  their  heads.  In  the  case  of  the  Bible 
it  is  not  only  the  missionaries  and  the  colporteurs  who  cir- 
culate it  in  Japan.  When  the  New  Testament  was  pub- 
lished there  were  in  the  country  2,700  church  members,  be- 
sides considerable  numbers  of  attendants  at  the  mission 
services.  There  were  183  missionaries,  men  and  women, 
in  the  country,  of  whom  140  were  Americans.  All  of  these 
people  were  possible  disseminators  of  the  Scriptures,  in 
widely  separated  districts  of  Japan. 

The  Bible  has  begun  to  win  a  permanent  place  in  any 
language  when  it  is  assimilated  by  many  of  the  people.  In 
Japan  the  man  or  the  woman  who  is  a  self-seeker  has  pre- 
cisely the  same  emotions  toward  other  people  (or  the  same 
lack   of   motions)    as   the   self-seeking  man   or  woman   in 


414  JAPAN  AND  KOREA  [1871- 

America.  In  either  country,  by  the  side  of  the  self-interest 
which  a  materiahst  deems  worthy  as  an  aim,  any  champion 
of  the  duty  of  subordinating  self  to  the  interest  of  others  is 
admired  as  wonderful  for  greatness  and  power.  Something 
of  this  early  began  to  be  seen  in  Japan.  Before  ten  years  of 
free  Bible  circulation  had  passed,  natives  began  to  say  that 
the  Bible  was  exerting  a  notable  effect  in  the  development  of 
Japanese  intellectual  life.  Its  ethical  axioms  and  illustra- 
tions began  to  be  used  by  Japanese  writers.  Before  the 
end  of  this  period  Baron  Ito,  a  member  of  the  Japanese 
Imperial  Privy  Council,  ventured  to  recommend  to  the 
Mikado  some  study  of  the  principles  and  the  theory  of 
Christianity,  pointing  out  that  Bismarck  and  his  Imperial 
master  were  believers.  The  fact  was  curious,  and  it  illus- 
trated the  degree  to  which  the  Book  was  gaining  a  hold 
upon  the  minds  of  the  people,  even  if  this  recommendation 
had  little  root  and  no  after  result. 

An  epoch  in  the  history  of  missions  in  Japan  then,  dates 
from  the  time  when  the  Bible  began  to  take  a  place  in  the 
native  literature  of  that  country.  The  Japanese  Mail  in 
speaking  of  the  translation  of  the  New  Testament  into  Jap- 
anese, said  it  was  like  the  building  of  a  railway  through  the 
national  intellect.  A  good  translation  of  Scripture  does  not 
veil  its  ideas,  but  lets  the  word  unmarred,  reach  all.  Dr. 
Verbeck  spent  seven  years  upon  the  book  of  Psalms  in.  Jap- 
anese assisted  by  capable  Japanese  scholars.  The  result 
was  that  the  book  of  Psalms  was  a  gem.  The  standard 
form  of  the  Japanese  Bible  was  in  the  simplest  style  of  the 
book  language,  and  it  resembled  the  English  Bible  in  its  fit- 
ness to  suggest  the  happiest  phrase  to  speaker  or  writer  who 
is  seeking  expression. 

As  an  instrument  in  opening  the  minds  of  men  to  spiritual 
aspirations,  the  Bible  from  the  very  first  showed  that  it 
knows  the  way  to  Japanese  hearts.  In  1871  Captain  James 
of  the  United  States  Army  was  engaged  by  a  great  Daimio 
(Prince)  of  Kumamoto  to  teach  the  young  men  of  his  re- 
tainers English  —  and  the  art  of  war.  It  so  happened  that 
Captain  James  was  a  warm-hearted  Christian  and  his  wife 
was  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  H.  M.  Scudder,  D.D.  Neither 
had  any   knowledge  of   the  Japanese  language;   and  the 


1891]      KUMAMOTO  BAND  OF  STUDENTS         415 

Japanese  young  men  whom  they  were  to  teach  had  no 
knowledge  whatever  of  English.  About  three  years  passed 
before  they  could  communicate  with  any  facility.  But  the 
Captain  had  meantime  won  the  confidence  of  his  pupils  by 
his  kindly  deportment. 

The  young  men  of  Kumamoto  school  had  been  taught  to 
hate  the  very  name  of  Christianity,  but  when  Captain  James 
suggested  Bible  readings  they  were  glad  to  take  them  up  for 
his  sake.  Captain  James  did  not  make  personal  application 
of  the  verses  read,  but  after  about  a  year  of  study  of  the 
Bible,  several  of  the  young  men  said  that  they  felt  obliged 
to  follow  its  teachings.  Only  then  did  the  Captain  explain 
and  urge  the  demands  of  the  book  upon  all.  In  1876  about 
forty  students  in  the  Daimio's  school  went  to  a  neighbouring 
hill-top  where  they  could  be  by  themselves.  There  they 
made  the  momentous  decision  that  having  received  a  great 
blessing  from  God,  it  was  their  duty  to  make  it  known 
to  their  own  people.  The  people  of  Kumamoto  were  hor- 
rified. Some  wished  to  kill  Captain  James;  some  wished 
to  kill  the  young  men.  The  school  was  broken  up  and 
Captain  James  had  to  leave.  But  after  study  in  Mr. 
Neesima's  Christian  Institute  these  young  men  became 
leaders  in  many  departments  of  Christian  work  in  Japan. 
The  Kumamoto  young  men  owed  to  the  Bible  alone,  inter- 
preted by  the  Spirit  of  God,  their  change  from  hate  to  eager 
service  of  Jesus  Christ. 

This  story  from  Kumamoto  suggests  the  influence  which 
the  Bible  may  exert  upon  a  number  of  persons  together. 
Let  us  also  follow  the  influence  of  the  Bible  upon  a  single 
obscure  individual,  who  fights  his  spiritual  battles  alone. 
In  1883  Rev.  Dr.  Ballagh  described  a  curious  incident  of  a 
Christian  fellowship  meeting  in  Japan.  At  the  thanks- 
giving service  a  timorous  man  of  some  means  confessed 
that  for  ten  years  he  had  been  studying  Christianity.  He 
now  wished  publicly  to  declare  himself  a  believer.  He  said 
that  his  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion  was 
stronger  because  he  was  not  a  baptised  person  and  no  blind 
partisan  of  Christianity.  He  was  a  Buddhist.  As  a 
Buddhist  he  could  bear  testimony  to  the  unsatisfactoriness 
and  the  untruthfulness  of  the  Buddhist  system.     He  had 


4i6  JAPAN  AND  KOREA  [1871- 

studied  the  Scriptures  during  ten  years  and  was  so  thor- 
oughly satisfied  with  the  truth  that  he  wished  his  testimony 
to  the  Bible  to  be  practical.  He  then  pledged  himself  to 
pay  any  amount  up  to  the  extent  of  his  whole  fortune  to 
supply  copies  of  the  Scriptures  to  those  who  wished  them 
and  could  not  afford  to  buy  them. 

These  two  types,  the  solitary,  silent  man  who  absorbs 
nourishment  for  his  soul  and  ponders  the  truth  by  himself, 
and  on  the  other  hand  the  associated  group  that  cannot  be 
still,  but  declares  the  truth  far  and  wide  —  these  two  types 
might  be  cited  in  innumerable  instances  of  the  living  power 
of  the  Bible  then  and  since  illustrated  in  Japan.  There  is 
neither  room  nor  need  for  multiplied  instances.  There  is 
need,  however,  to  remind  the  reader  that  instances  of  bitter 
hostility  also  mark  each  chronicle  of  Bible  work.  During 
the  year  1889  a  reaction  appeared  in  Japan  against  foreign 
influences.  Patriots  raised  the  slogan :  "  Japan  for  the 
Japanese ! "  There  seemed  to  be  at  once  a  dampening  of 
interest  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  for  some  time  the  in- 
fluence of  this  popular  outburst,  encouraged  in  various  ways 
by  the  Buddhists,  was  shown  in  a  diminution  in  the  circula- 
tion of  the  Bible.  This  falling  off  in  the  circulation  was 
not  by  any  means  permanent  nor  did  its  symptoms  excite 
alarm.  It  was  simply  a  difficulty  natural  enough  in  such  a 
country,  and  calling  for  an  unlimited  stock  of  patient  en- 
durance. 

This  falling  off  in  circulation  of  the  Bible  was  one  ele- 
ment of  a  decision  taken  about  this  time  for  a  better  organi- 
sation of  Bible  work  in  Japan.  A  Committee  of  mission- 
aries was  formed  belonging  to  different  denominations, 
which  the  Agents  of  the  three  Bible  Societies  were  invited 
to  join,  and  the  whole  enterprise  of  printing  and  distribut- 
ing the  Scriptures  in  Japanese  was  placed  under  supervision 
of  this  committee.  This  experiment  was  the  subject  of 
correspondence  between  the  three  Bible  Societies  and  the 
arrangement  went  into  effect  in  July,  1890.  In  the  new 
arrangement,  since  the  Agency  of  the  American  Bible  So- 
ciety was  the  first  to  be  housed  in  a  Bible  House  of  its  own, 
and  since  Mr.  Loomis*  dwelling  place  was  in  the  same  build- 
ing, it  was  agreed  that  the  main  depository  of  the  General 


1891]  GATES  AJAR  IN  KOREA  417 

Committee  should  be  the  American  Bible  Society's  house 
in  Yokohama.  The  care  of  the  books  and  the  plates  be- 
longing to  the  Society  now  passed  under  control  of  the 
Bible  Committee,  it  being  understood  that  of  all  expenses 
one-half  should  be  paid  by  the  American  Bible  Society, 
one-quarter  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  and 
one-fourth  by  the  National  Bible  Society  of  Scotland.  In 
1 891  the  Committee  published  its  first  year's  report,  full  of 
hope  for  a  more  extended  work  in  consequence  of  the  co- 
ordination of  all  forces. 

In  1882  the  Rev.  Henry  Loomis  began  to  take  Korea 
within  the  sphere  of  his  vision  as  Agent.  The  land  could 
not  as  yet  be  visited  by  foreigners :  in  fact  in  1883  the  Amer- 
ican Legation  requested  American  missionaries  not  to  at- 
tempt as  yet  to  enter  the  country.  The  Korean  Govern- 
ment, however,  was  beginning  to  show  signs  of  willingness 
to  be  led  by  Japan. 

The  story  of  the  opening  of  Korea  to  the  Gospel  can 
only  be  outlined  at  this  point.  But  the  outline  would  be 
incomplete  without  mention  of  a  strange  series  of  circum- 
stances reported  by  Mr.  Loomis  about  this  time.  At  the 
great  exposition  at  Vienna  a  gentleman  named  Tsuda  was 
among  the  officials  of  high  rank  sent  from  Japan.  Mr. 
Tsuda  happened  to  have  his  attention  called  to  an  exhibit 
of  one  book  which  had  been  translated  into  two  hundred 
different  languages.  The  fact  of  these  numerous  trans- 
lations was  singular,  not  to  say  startling.  Enquiry  showed 
that  the  book  was  the  Bible,  and  that  it  was  translated,  in 
part  at  least,  into  Japanese.  When  he  returned  to  his  own 
country  study  of  the  Bible  led  Mr.  Tsuda  to  believe  in 
Jesus  Christ. 

In  1 88 1  an  embassy  from  Korea  arrived  in  Japan  to  study 
the  new  sciences  and  industries  of  that  country.  A  member 
of  this  embassy  was  directed  to  Mr.  Tsuda  for  information 
on  scientific  agriculture.  On  the  wall  of  the  room  where 
Mr.  Tsuda  received  the  Korean  official  was  a  scroll  written 
in  Chinese  containing  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  This  the 
Korean  read  with  profound  interest.  Mr.  Tsuda  explained 
to  him  that  these  were  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ.  The 
Korean  dared  not  take  the  written  scroll  home  with  him. 


4i8  JAPAN  AND  KOREA  [1871- 

for  at  that  time  the  death  penalty  was  attached  to  accept- 
ance of  Christianity  or  of  Christian  documents.  He  told 
one  of  his  friends  in  Seoul,  however,  who  was  about  to  be 
sent  by  the  king  of  Korea  on  another  mission  to  Japan,  to 
go  and  see  the  scroll  on  the  wall  of  the  reception  room^  of 
Mr.  Tsuda.  This  second  Korean  official  was  named 
Rijutei.  The  result  of  his  reading  the  scroll  on  the  wall 
was  ardent  desire  to  know  more;  and  finally,  through  Mr. 
Tsuda,  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Japanese  pastor  of 
a  Presbyterian  church,  was  baptised,  and  began  an  entirely 
new  life. 

The  conversion  of  Rijutei  was  a  link  in  a  chain  which 
cannot  now  be  traced  to  its  end.  First  there  was  Mr. 
Tsuda  at  the  Vienna  Exposition,  then  the  Korean  magnate 
in  Mr.  Tsuda's  reception  room,  next  the  private  information 
given  to  Rijutei  in  Seoul,  and  next  the  journey  of  Rijutei  to 
Japan  which  led  ultimately  to  his  conversion.  The  first 
service  that  Rijutei  undertook  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
was  the  preparation  of  a  New  Testament  in  Chino-Korean 
and  the  translation  into  Korean  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark. 
Meanwhile,  in  July,  1883,  Rijutei  wrote  an  impassioned  ap- 
peal to  the  churches  of  America  beseeching  them  to  send 
missionaries  to  Korea. 

The  Korean  Embassy  to  Japan  was  sent  out  in  1880. 
In  1883  Korea  sent  an  embassy  to  the  United  States  and 
following  the  appointment  of  the  Embassy  the  American 
Presbyterian  Board  and  the  American  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  took  steps  to  send  missionaries  into  Korea  so  soon 
as  the  country  was  able  to  receive  them.  It  was  not  until 
1885  that  it  was  considered  safe  for  Americans  to  go  to 
Seoul  the  capital  of  Korea.  In  that  year  Rev.  Mr.  Under- 
wood of  the  Presbyterian  Mission  and  Rev.  Mr.  Appen- 
zeller  and  Dr.  Scranton  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission 
took  up  their  abode  in  the  Korean  capital.  The  books  which 
they  could  take  with  them  were  the  Gospels  translated  by 
Rijutei  and  printed  by  the  Society. 

At  this  time  but  one  other  attempt  had  been  made  to 
translate  the  Scriptures  into  Korean.  The  Rev.  John  Ross 
of  Manchuria  in  1875,  when  Li  Hung  Chang  abolished  the 
*'  neutral  strip  "  between  Manchuria  and  Korea,  travelled 


1891]      SOCIETY'S  AGENT  VISITS  KOREA         419 

in  that  region  and  met  Koreans.  With  their  aid  he  made 
a  version  of  the  New  Testament  which  was  printed  in  1885 
by  the  National  Bible  Society  of  Scotland.  Unfortunately 
the  dialect  of  Mr.  Ross'  teachers  was  not  very  intelligible 
as  far  south  as  the  capital  of  Korea.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  American  mission  in  Korea,  then,  Rijutei's  translation 
of  the  Gospels  was  used  to  the  extent  of  several  thousand 
copies.  In  1887  the  Scottish  National  Bible  Society  re- 
published the  Gospel  of  Mark  of  this  version  with  some 
improvements,  but  it  was  plain  that  the  first  duty  of  the 
missionaries  must  be  to  take  from  the  original  tongues  an 
entirely  new  version  of  the  Scriptures  in  Korean. 

Mr.  Loomis,  the  Society's  Agent  for  Japan  and  Korea, 
spent  two  months  of  1885  in  Korea  and  returned  to  Japan 
full  of  enthusiasm  for  work  in  this  new  field.  At  this  time 
there  were  only  three  missionaries  in  the  Hermit  Kingdom 
—  all  Americans.  Three  Bible  Societies  were  also  repre- 
sented there:  the  American,  which  was  first  to  visit  Seoul, 
the  Scottish  National  Bible  Society,  which  arrived  later,  and 
finally  the  British  and  Foreign  Society.  A  committee  of 
the  missionaries  was  soon  formed  to  take  up  the  work  of 
Bible  translation.  It  was  quite  impossible  to  do  much  in 
the  way  of  Bible  distribution,  not  only  because  of  the  slender 
stock  of  Scriptures  on  hand,  but  because  the  lack  of  trust- 
worthy material  for  colporteurs  as  well  as  the  stern  laws 
of  Korea  made  an  almost  insurmountable  obstacle  to  Bible 
distribution.  At  the  end  of  1890  the  chief  feature  of  the 
story  of  the  year  for  Korea  was  the  fact  that  the  transla- 
tion of  the  New  Testament  under  a  competent  Committee 
had  begun  in  earnest  and  was  steadily  progressing.  Here 
again  the  Japan  Agency  had  to  exercise  that  '*  waiting  on 
the  Lord  "  which  the  Bible  so  often  sets  forth  as  a  means 
of  strength. 


CHAPTER  XLVII 

MEDIATING   BETWEEN    EUROPE  AND   ASIA 

The  enterprise  of  the  Society  in  the  Levant  resembled 
the  work  of  a  colonisation  Society  in  a  land  whose  people  are 
backward  in  civilisation.  The  Bible  Society,  however,  had 
but  one  colonist  —  the  wonderful  Book  which  had  now  gone 
into  thousands  of  homes  in  the  Levant.  Some  part  of  the 
story  of  this  colonisation  of  the  Bible  will  form  the  topic 
of  this  chapter.  In  actual  fact  it  prepares  a  basis  for  mutual 
understanding  between  the  West  and  the  East. 

In  1872  the  Bible  House  in  Constantinople  was  completed, 
marking  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  Christian  work  in  the 
Turkish  capital.  Formerly  Bible  and  mission  work  had 
their  separate  centres  in  the  European  quarters  of  the  city. 
Little  by  little  the  American  Board's  missionaries  ventured 
to  open  book-rooms  in  Stamboul,  the  old  city,  and  finally, 
about  1853,  they  experimented  with  residence  there,  in  spite 
of  the  Turkish  prejudices  which  had  long  excluded  foreign 
residents  from  that  part  of  Constantinople.  The  mission 
had  an  extensive  publication  work  and  its  editorial  rooms 
and  sales  rooms  needed  to  be  in  Stamboul  among  the  people 
for  whom  the  books  were  intended,  instead  of  being  hidden 
away  in  the  European  quarters  among  the  people  with  whom 
missionaries  were  classed.  As  the  work  grew  the  mission- 
aries in  consultation  with  the  Agents  of  the  two  Bible  Socie- 
ties hired  a  large  stone  building  near  the  Golden  Horn,  in 
which  the  mission  and  the  Bible  Societies  had  offices  and 
storage  rooms,  and  a  salesroom  jointly  maintained. 

The  Bible  House  was  built  partly  because  this  hired  build- 
ing was  too  small  for  the  growing  work,  and  partly  because 
the  unobtrusive  quarters  of  the  mission,  changed  when  leases 
expired,  were  compared  by  the  common  people  wnth  the  fine 
permanent  buildings  of  Roman  Catholic  missions.     People 

420 


1871-1891]     TO  HINDER  BOOK  SALES  421 

thought  that  the  American  missions  had  no  permanent  basis. 
The  money  for  constructing  the  Bible  House  was  raised 
chiefly  in  America  by  Rev.  Dr.  I.  G.  Bliss,  Agent  of  the  So- 
ciety, with  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Managers,  but  with- 
out its  assuming  any  responsibility  in  the  matter.^ 

The  building  was  one  of  the  finest  commercial  buildings 
in  the  city,  being  four  stories  high  with  eighty  feet  front  on 
one  of  the  most  important  streets  in  old  Stamboul.  The 
American  Board's  mission  with  its  publication  department, 
which  issued  school  books,  weekly  and  monthly  periodicals, 
religious  books,  commentaries  and  tracts  in  four  or  five  lan- 
guages, occupying  the  time  of  five  or  six  missionaries,  leased 
the  larger  portion  of  the  building.  The  American  Bible 
Society  Agency  with  its  storage-rooms  was  established  on 
the  second  floor,  and  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
Agency  with  its  store-rooms  occupied  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  third  floor.  One  of  the  large  shops  fronting  on  the 
street  was  the  salesroom  jointly  maintained  by  the  mission 
and  the  two  Bible  Societies. 

During  the  score  of  years  of  this  period  many  attempts 
were  made  by  the  Turkish  government  to  restrict  the  sale  of 
Scriptures  by  colporteurs.  It  proposed  to  have  the  Scrip- 
tures marked  "  For  Protestants  only,"  in  order  to  prevent 
Mohammedans  from  buying.  Here  a  compromise  was 
reached  by  the  agreement  of  the  Bible  Societies  to  put  upon 
the  title  page  the  words  "  Published  by  the  American  (or 
''the  British")  Bible  Society."  The  wish  to  restrict  these 
sales  resulted  in  a  law  requiring  every  book  to  be  specially 
licensed  by  the  censor  before  being  printed.  Here,  how- 
ever, what  was  intended  to  be  a  hindrance  favoured  circula- 
tion, for  thereafter  every  Bible  printed  in  Turkey  bore  on 
its  title  page  an  official  declaration  that  its  publication  was 
authorised  by  the  Imperial  Department  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion. 

The  reason  why  Turkish  officials  could  not  strike  directly 
at  the  enterprises  of  the  Bible  House  was  the  restraint  put 
upon  them  by  treaties  of  commerce.  Any  illegal  interfer- 
ence with  the  book  business  of  the  mission  or  of  the  Bible 

1  It  is  owned  by  incorporated  Trustees  in  New  York  who  hold 
the  property  for  Bible  and  mission  work. 


422  EUROPE  AND  ASIA  [1871- 

Societies  was  resented  by  both  the  British  Embassy  and  the 
American  Legation,  for  the  business  carefully  conformed  to 
the  law.  A  year  or  two  after  the  Bible  House  was  opened, 
the  Turkish  police  entered  the  sales  room  and  undertook 
without  process  of  law  to  seize  the  Turkish  Bibles.  By  the 
time  the  Turkish  government  Ministers  had  got  through 
bearing  remarks  on  the  case  by  Mr.  George  H.  Boker,  the 
United  States  Minister,  they  were  willing  to  apologise,  and 
to  promise  that  such  an  outrage  should  not  again  be  perpe- 
trated. 

Great  was  the  progress  which  by  this  time  the  American 
Board's  mission  had  made  in  Turkey.  There  were  195 
preaching  places  scattered  over  the  empire  with  an  average 
Sunday  attendance  of  13,744  while  the  persons  connected 
with  these  congregations  numlDered  19,660  registered  Protes- 
tants. The  mission  maintained  225  schools  with  7,623 
scholars.  This  respectable  little  community  constituted  a 
fraternity  of  warm  supporters  of  Bible  work,  since  upon 
the  Bible  it  was  built  up.  That  such  a  body  existed  at  this 
time  with  its  small  groups  in  almost  every  province  of 
European  and  Asiatic  Turkey,  accounts  for  the  rapid  de- 
velopment of  Bible  distribution  during  the  period  ending  in 
1891. 

The  field  of  the  Agency  in  1871  embraced  the  eastern 
half  of  Turkey  in  Europe,  Turkey  in  Asia,  Persia,  Syria, 
Egypt,  and  Greece.  The  position  of  the  Agent  at  Constan- 
tinople was,  however,  something  such  as  would  be  that  of  a 
single  Secretary  planted  at  the  Bible  House  at  New  York 
and  instructed  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  United  States.  Dr. 
Bliss  had  under  his  control  at  this  time  about  thirty-five 
colporteurs,  scattered  through  all  of  this  immense  territory. 
These  men  had  to  have  in  hand  Scriptures  in  a  score  of  lan- 
guages. 

This  variety  of  tongues  was  pleasantly  alluded  to  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Hogg  of  the  American  Mission  in  Egypt,  in  an  address 
telling  what  the  Bible  does  for  the  missionary.  In  the  first 
place  "  it  endows  him  with  the  gift  of  tongues."  People 
come  to  the  depository  and  get  Scriptures  in  almost  any  lan- 
guage they  ask  for;  immediately  they  assume  that  the  mis- 
sionary can  speak  and  write  all  the  languages ;  one  of  the 


1891]      THE  SOCIETY'S  AID  TO  MISSIONS         423 

most  wonderful  things  that  they  ever  heard  of.  Then  "  the 
Bible  gives  the  missionary  a  lodging  and  an  audience  "  wher- 
ever he  goes.  As  a  stranger  he  arrives  at  a  village  where 
he  wishes  to  pass  the  night.  Looks  are  surly  and  suspicious 
but  he  announces  that  he  has  the  word  of  God  in  his  saddle 
bags.  He  is  immediately  conducted  to  the  chief  men  of  the 
village  who  treat  him  politely,  if  not  cordially,  and  all  the 
householders  come  together  to  hear  what  he  has  to  say. 
Again  *'  the  Bible  provides  him  with  a  text  and  gives  him  a 
hearing  "  among  these  people.  The  sleepy  Christians  of  the 
old  Oriental  churches  look  with  superciliousness  upon  a  man 
from  the  New  World  of  the  West  who  wishes  to  talk  to  the 
hoary  East  about  Christianity.  But  the  Bibles  taken  from 
the  saddle  bags  immediately  provide  a  subject  of  conversa- 
tion. The  people  are  interested  and  the  missionary  can  ad- 
minister to  them  the  kind  of  a  sermon  which  they  all  need, 
while  trying  to  sell  them  Scriptures.  Finally  "  the  Bible 
Society  enables  the  missionary  to  leave  preachers  at  each 
place  "  to  which  he  goes.  A  single  missionary  is  sent  to  a 
district  perhaps  as  large  as  the  state  of  Pennsylvania  and  as 
populous  as  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  taken  together. 
He  cannot  provide  preachers  for  the  different  towns,  but  by 
a  little  labour  he  can  leave  the  book  in  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  copies  in  all  parts  of  this  great  field.  It  is  in  such  ways 
that  the  Bible  Society  is  an  indispensable  aid  to  the  mission- 
ary. 

Colporteurs  of  the  Society  sent  out  under  supervision  of 
missionaries  travelled  throughout  this  vast  field;  in  most 
cases  the  colporteur  being  jointly  sustained  by  the  Bible  So- 
ciety and  the  mission.  In  this  way  the  most  distant  portions 
of  Asiatic  Turkey  were  reached,  even  through  Mesopotamia, 
eastward  into  Persia  and  southward  as  far  as  Bagdad.  The 
Society  maintained  colporteurs  in  that  distant  city  until 
about  1883  when  the  Church  Missionary  Society  of  England 
occupied  Bagdad  as  a  station,  and  it  seemed  proper  to  pass 
over  the  Bible  work  there  to  the  British  Society.  In  North- 
ern Mesopotamia,  at  Mardin  and  Diarbekir,  was  a  very 
eager  demand  for  Bible  distribution  joyfully  supplied  by 
Rev.  A.  N.  Andrus  of  the  American  Board's  mission.  In 
1872  Mr.  Andrus  reported  that  the  sales  of  Scriptures  in 


424  EUROPE  AND  ASIA  [1871- 

Mardin  and  vicinity  had  increased  forty  per  cent,  in  four 
years.  It  was  Mr.  Andrus  who  took  up  the  work  of  trans- 
lating the  New  Testament  into  Kurdish,  numbers  of  Kurds 
having  won  his  sympathy  in  Northern  Mesopotamia  and  on 
the  borders  of  Persia.  In  such  ways  the  splendid  linguistic 
equipment  of  missionaries  and  Bible  Agents  furthered  Bible 
distribution. 

The  Agent  in  Constantinople  found  it  very  difficult  to 
make  regular  visits  to  the  distant  Persian  field  of  the  Soci- 
ety, there  being  no  railroads  and  practically  no  wagon  roads. 
In  1879  the  Rev.  W.  L.  Whipple  was  appointed  Agent  for 
Persia,  that  field  being  separated  from  the  Levant  Agency. 

The  period  of  which  we  treat  in  this  Agency  was  a 
stormy,  not  to  say  dangerous  period  of  clash  between  Asiatic 
and  European  ideas  of  the  science  of  government.  In  1875 
an  insurrection  against  the  Turkish  authority  broke  out  in 
Herzegovina,  and  war  followed  with  Montenegro  and  Ser- 
via.  In  the  following  spring  took  place  terrible  massacres 
of  Bulgarians  on  the  excuse  that  if  left  alive  they  might  plan 
insurrection.  The  situation  in  Turkish  government  circles 
at  this  time  was  graphically  outlined  by  Dr.  Bliss  in  one  of 
his  reports.  In  1876  two  sultans  were  dethroned  in  rapid 
succession.  *'  Men  in  and  out  of  power  played  their  games 
of  chance  with  fiery  energy.  The  hazards  were  desperate-, 
and  terrible  the  winnings  —  to  most  of  the  players,  con- 
fusion, exile  or  death;  to  the  lookers  on  —  the  people  who 
bear  the  consequences  —  dismay,  bankruptcy,  ruin  in  every 
section  of  the  land.  Wars,  famines,  pestilences  followed 
with  their  desolating  trail."  The  war  with  Russia  com- 
menced in  1877  ^^^  ended  with  a  triumphant  Russian  army 
inside  of  the  fortifications  of  Constantinople,  when  Great 
Britain  and  other  European  Powers  intervened  to  save  the 
Ottoman  Empire  from  destruction. 

At  such  a  time  it  seems  a  matter  of  wonder  that  any  Scrip- 
tures could  be  sold,  but  those  put  in  circulation  in  1877  num- 
bered 29,237  copies,  and  in  1878,  39,183.  The  account  of 
issues  for  this  last  year  contains  the  item,  "  Sixty-nine  vol- 
umes stolen  from  and  lost  by  colporteurs."  This  item  re- 
veals the  strict  accountability  to  which  the  colporteurs  were 
held.     On  the  whole,  this  war  time  permitted  a  wonderful 


1891]     A  WIDE  FIELD  FOR  COLPORTEURS       425 

distribution.  Some  thousands  of  the  books  were  gratui- 
tously circulated  among  prisoners  of  war  and  soldiers,  both 
Russian  and  Turkish. 

At  the  end  of  the  period  (1891)  the  Levant  Agency  had 
in  the  field  about  one  hundred  colporteurs,  some  in  Euro- 
pean Turkey  among  the  Bulgarians,  some  in  Egypt,  some  in 
Syria;  but  the  greater  portion  in  that  immense  field  of 
Asiatic  Turkey  where  the  American  Board's  missionaries 
have  so  long  been  working  to  bring  the  ideas  of  Bible  Christi- 
anity from  the  West  into  the  slow  and  listless  East. 

The  colporteurs  in  all  this  Levant  region  did  a  work  trying 
to  body  and  mind.  The  fatigues  of  travel  were  greater 
than  Americans  can  well  imagine,  and  fanatical  religionists 
often  stirred  the  people  to  attack  the  Bible  men,  so  that,  like 
St.  Paul  and  his  friends  in  some  of  their  journey ings  in 
pagan  Asia  Minor,  they  had  to  escape  as  best  they  might. 
In  one  of  the  villages  of  Sivas,  Turkey,  a  colporteur  was 
thrown  down  stairs,  dragged  out  of  the  village  and  severely 
beaten.  ^  The  memory  of  this  cruelty  remained  in  the  mind 
of  the  ringleader  until  it  became  an  appeal  to  conscience  of 
such  force  that  the  man  went  out  of  his  way  to  find  a  col- 
porteur who  could  supply  him  with  a  New  Testament.  Be- 
fore many  years  had  passed  the  man  and  his  wife  had  both 
revolutionised  their  ideas  of  life  and  joined  the  Evangelical 
Church. 

The  work  of  the  Agency  was  not  merely  the  difficult  work 
of  Bible  distribution.  It  included  a  continual  labour  in 
Bible  translation  or  revision.  Rev.  Dr.  Riggs  was  at  work 
on  the  Bulgarian  version  and  on  the  large  Armenian  Refer- 
ence Bible ;  Rev.  Dr.  Schauffler  was  building  up  a  new  Turk- 
ish version,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Christie  of  the  Scottish  mission  to 
the  Jews  was  revising  for  the  Society  the  Hebrew-Spanish 
Bible.  His  work  was  arrested,  by  the  way,  for  some  months 
by  a  curious  quarantine  inside  of  the  city  against  cholera. 
This  entirely  cut  off  his  compositors  from  access  to  the  Bible 
House  presses. 

In  1 87 1  efforts  were  made  to  revise  the  Armeno-Turkish 
Version  of  the  Bible,  translated  by  Dr.  Goodell  many  years 
before.  A  question  which  continually  thrust  itself  forward 
was  whether  it  would  not  be  possible  to  unify  the  Turkish 


426  EUROPE  AND  ASIA  [1871- 

versions.  For  now  the  Turkish  language  was  changing  so 
as  to  tolerate  the  substitution  of  many  Turkish  for  Arabic 
and  Persian  words  in  literary  work.  The  Rev.  A.  T.  Pratt, 
M.D.,  with  a  competent  native  assistant,  experimented  in 
this  direction,  consulting  with  Rev.  Dr.  Elias  Riggs  and 
Rev.  Dr.  George  F.  Herrick.  After  Dr.  Pratt's  death  in 
1872  a  committee  was  formed  to  carry  on  the  work  of  re- 
vision of  the  Turkish  version  with  the  idea  of  striving  to 
make  a  version  intelligible  to  the  common  people,  and  yet 
acceptable  to  educated  Turks.  The  committee  commenced 
its  work  in  June,  1873.  It  was  composed  of  Rev.  William 
G.  Schauffler,  D.D.,  Rev.  Elias  Riggs,  D.D.,  Rev.  R.  H. 
Weakley,  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  (of  London), 
and  Rev.  G.  F.  Herrick,  D.D.  Dr.  Schauffler  was  not  able 
to  meet  with  the  committee  regularly  and  to  the  great  disap- 
pointment of  his  colleagues,  as  well  as  of  the  British  and 
American  Bible  Societies  who  jointly  met  the  expenses  of 
this  work,  he  resigned.  The  work  was  then  carried  to  com- 
pletion by  the  other  three  members,  assisted  by  Armenian 
and  Mohammedan  literary  men.  To  meet  with  this  Bible, 
revision  committee  brought  a  thrill  to  the  heart.  The  Mo- 
hammedan masters  of  Turkish  expression  joined  heartily 
and  reverently  with  their  '*  Amen  "  in  the  prayer  for  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  with  which  every  session  was 
opened.  The  work  was  finished  in  1878  and  with  some 
slight  additional  revision  to  make  thie  book  more  clear  to  the 
uneducated  reader,  this  has  become  the  Union  version  in 
Turkish. 

We  have  said  nothing  about  the  office  staff  of  this  great 
agency.  Rev.  I.  G.  Bliss,  D.D.,  became  Agent  in  December, 
1857.  In  October,  1872,  his  son,  Rev.  E.  M.  Bliss,  was 
appointed  Assistant  Agent.  Prof.  Porter  took  charge  of 
distribution  in  the  Syrian  field,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Alexander  or 
at  times  some  other  of  the  missionaries  of  the  American 
United  Presbyterian  Church  in  Egypt  acted  as  sub-Agent  of 
the  Society  for  that  great  section  of  the  field.  The  burden 
was  too  great  for  Dr.  Bliss'  health  and  early  in  1888,  when 
Mr.  E.  M.  Bliss  was  obliged  to  resign  on  account  of  the  fail- 
ure of  his  wife's  health,  the  Society  lost  no  time  in  appoint- 
ing the  Rev.  Marcellus  Bo  wen  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  Asso- 


1891]        DEATH  OF  REV.  DR.  I.  G.  BLISS  427 

ciate  Agent  for  the  Levant.  Mr.  Bowen  had  been  for  some 
years  a  missionary  of  the  American  Board  in  the  region  of 
the  "  Seven  Churches  of  Asia  "  and  had  a  good  knowledge 
of  Turkish.  Reaching  Constantinople  in  September,  1888, 
he  immediately  took  up  the  Agent's  burden  by  making  a 
journey  of  some  months  through  Asiatic  Turkey  to  inspect 
and  animate  the  work  of  distribution. 

Upon  the  American  missions,  the  Society,  and  the  newly 
appointed  Associate  Agent,  Mr.  Bowen,  deep  sorrow  fell 
when  Rev.  Dr.  I.  G.  Bliss,  while  making  a  tour  of  upper 
Egypt,  sickened  and  died  at  Assiout  in  February,  1889.  He 
had  been  thirty-two  years  the  devoted,  unresting  and  suc- 
cessful representative  of  the  American  Bible  Society  in  the 
great  field  which  during  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
received  fully  one  half,  and  even  at  the  time  of  his  death 
one  third,  of  all  moneys  appropriated  by  the  Society  for  for- 
eign work.^  During  the  thirty-two  years  of  Dr.  Bliss'  serv- 
ice the  Agency  under  his  charge  put  into  circulation  875,849 
volumes  of  Scripture  in  some  thirty  different  languages. 
It  had  been  a  great  privilege  to  Dr.  Bliss  to  throw  all  of  his 
powers  into  the  work  of  sowing  seed,  but  it  was  character- 
istic that  he  never  claimed  achievement  for  himself.  He 
believed  that  the  Bible  work  in  Turkey  was  given  to  him  as 
his  life  work,  and  that  any  man  called  of  God  to  do  a  work 
has  strength,  not  his  own,  for  its  performance.  In  his  view 
whatever  was  done  by  the  Agency  was  done  by  the  Divine 
help.  Results  belonged  entirely  to  the  Master  who  pro- 
tected and  fostered  the  work. 

Among  the  Greeks  of  Turkey  the  clergy  objected  to  the 
circulation  of  the  Bible  more  strenuously  than  did  the  Ar- 
menian clergy.  A  large  proportion  of  the  Greek  subjects 
of  the  Sultan  lived  in  the  central  part  of  Asia  Minor  and 
had  lost  entirely  the  use  of  the  Greek  language.  In  those 
parts  of  Asia  Minor  the  Seljoukian  Turkish  sultans  who 
ruled  from  the  eleventh  to  the  thirteenth  century  had 
stamped  out  all  languages  excepting  the  Turkish.  The 
memory  of  this  piece  of  savagery  was  perpetuated  among 

1  The  sum  expended  on  the  foreign  agencies  in  the  year  ending 
March  31,  1891  was  $134,918.25.  Of  this  amount  the  sum  expended 
in  the  Levant  Agency  was  $45,156.92. 


428  EUROPE  AND  ASIA  [1871- 

Armenians  and  Greeks  of  the  region  by  those  curious  liter- 
ary cenotaphs  known  as  Armeno-Turkish  and  Greco-Turk- 
ish writings.  A  considerable  Greek  population  along  the 
coasts  of  Asia  Minor  and  of  European  Turkey  bordering  on 
the  Egean  Sea  used  the  Greek  language,  and  Scriptures  in 
Greek  were  circulated  among  them  to  some  extent. 

The  mission  Board  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  (South)  had  established  a  mission  to  the 
Greeks  in  Athens,  Volo,  and  Salonica.  Much  was  done  by 
the  missionary.  Rev.  Mr.  Sampson,  in  introducing  the  Scrip- 
tures in  the  Greek  schools  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Salonica. 
An  interest  in  the  pure  gospel  which  was  full  of  promise 
was  shown  by  the  remark  of  a  prominent  member  of  a 
Greek  school  board :  *'  I  have  ordered  the  New  Testament 
to  be  read  regularly,  and  have  strictly  forbidden  all  observa- 
tions or  interpretations.  This  will  cut  the  root  of  all  false 
traditional  teaching  which  I  have  found  it  so  hard  to  free 
myself  from,  while  the  truth  will  be  left  to  do  its  proper 
work." 

This  period  was  also  a  time  of  wide  circulation  of  the  Bul- 
garian Scriptures.  The  usual  fruit  from  sowing  the  Bible 
appeared  in  every  part  of  Bulgaria.  It  seemed  particularly 
suited  to  hold  and  shape  the  lives  of  some  people  in  every 
town  or  village.  One  of  the  labourers  in  the  American 
Methodist  Episcopal  mission  said:  *'  If  I  can  sell  one  copy 
of  the  Scriptures  in  a  Bulgarian  village  I  can  see  moral 
improvement  in  the  whole  village  within  six  months."  In 
1886  there  was  war  between  Servia  and  Bulgaria  in  which 
the  Servians  were  defeated.  In  the  Bulgarian  Army  the 
usages  of  what  is  styled  *'  civilised  warfare  "  were  observed, 
but  not  in  the  Servian  Army.  This  difference  was  so 
marked  that  the  missionaries  were  inclined  to  attribute  it  to 
the  circulation  of  the  Bible  in  Bulgaria.  Its  circulation  had 
not  been  permitted  in  Servia. 

From  the  Koran  Mohammedans  of  Turkey  derive  some 
true  notions  of  God.  It  is  one  of  their  favourite  exercises 
to  repeat  audibly  God's  ''  beautiful  "  and  "  terrible  "  attri- 
butes. These,  however,  are  so  diluted  in  interpretation  that 
a  common  weakness  with  Mohammedans  is  to  say,  *'  Lord ! 
Lord !  "  but  to  omit  doing  the  things  which  the  Lord  has 


1891]  BITTER  LOT  OF  CONVERTS  429 

said.  The  habit  of  thinking  worshipful  thoughts  of  God 
forms  a  basis,  however,  in  the  Mohammedan  mind  for  in- 
terest in  the  Bible.  During  the  whole  of  this  period  some 
thousands  of  copies  of  Scripture  in  Turkish  (written  with 
Arabic  letters  and  used,  in  general,  by  Mohammedans  only), 
were  sold  every  year.  It  became  quite  common  for  colpor- 
teurs to  meet  Mohammedans  who  were  interested  in  Bible 
instruction.  Here  and  there  throughout  the  country  were 
men  who  came  like  Nicodemus,  secretly,  to  learn  more 
about  Christianity.  Some  of  these  ceased  coming  after  a 
time,  finding  the  demands  of  the  Bible  too  hard  for  their 
easy-going  morality,  or  perhaps  finding  the  pressure  of  rela- 
tives or  of  the  police  too  fierce  to  be  braved. 

At  the  same  time  there  were  Mohammedans  in  Turkey, 
Syria,  Egypt,  and  Persia  who  cordially  adopted  the  Chris- 
tian faith.  For  example,  an  officer  in  the  Turkish  army 
suffered  imprisonment  for  a  year  for  insubordination.  ^  His 
disobedience  was  a  refusal  to  obey  the  command  of  his  su- 
perior to  cease  reading  the  New  Testament.  At  the  end  of 
the  year  the  officer  was  released  and  allowed  to  resign,  and 
he  lost  no  time  in  escaping  for  his  life  to  a  foreign  land. 
The  lot  of  any  Turkish  Mohammedan  convert  to  Christian- 
ity was  bitter.  Even  if  the  government  regarded  his  case 
as  too  trivial  to  be  taken  up,  fanatics  might  consider  it  a 
duty  to  God  to  slay  the  apostate;  or  at  best  his  relatives 
would  fret  his  soul  with  perpetual  menaces.  The  number 
of  such  converts  during  this  period  was  comparatively  small 
and  yet  there  were  sufficient  in  all  ranks  of  society  to  show 
the  overwhelming  influence  of  the  word  of  God  interpreted 
by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  case  of  one  of  the  Mohammedan  converts  is  pe- 
culiarly interesting  because  he  became  acquainted  with  the 
New  Testament  through  his  desire  to  refute  its  teachings. 
He  lived  not  far  from  an  American  mission  station  in  a  town 
in  the  eastern  part  of  Turkey  where  he  was  the  imam  (or 
pastor,  as  we  might  say),  of  a  Mohammedan  parish.  The 
New  Testament  taught  him  many  things,  with  the  result 
that  he  had  to  believe  on  Jesus  Christ.  As  soon  as  the 
change  in  his  views  became  known,  men  banded  together  to 
kill  him  and  he  fled  across  the  Russian  frontier.     This  man, 


430  EUROPE  AND  ASIA  [1871-1891 

when  he  was  baptised  in  a  Christian  church  in  Turkey, 
selected  for  himself  the  name  which  he  would  take.  The 
name  was  ''  John,  Son  of  the  Gospel,"  or  in  Armenian, 
''  Hohannes  Avederanian."  At  Tiflis  in  Russia  the  fleeing 
convert  fell  in  with  some  Swedish  missionaries,  was  sent  to 
Sweden,  received  a  theological  education,  and  went  forth 
as  a  missionary  to  Mohammedans  in  Central  Asia.  He  has 
proved  the  reality  of  his  conversion  to  Jesus  Christ  by  many 
years  of  service  in  Eastern  and  Western  Asia  and  among 
Mohammedans  in  Bulgaria  (after  the  independence  of  that 
country  made  it  safe  for  him  to  return  to  work  among  his 
own  people). 

In  the  Levant,  as  in  all  other  fields  of  the  Society,  un- 
counted instances  prove  that  the  Bible  as  a  colonist  or  mes- 
senger for  Christ  is  both  suited  to  men  of  every  race,  and 
powerful  to  enlighten  their  consciences ;  it  brings  together 
even  those  who  have  been  too  far  apart  to  tolerate  each 
other. 


CHAPTER  XLVIII 

SEVENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   SERVICE 

With  gratitude  for  life,  for  success,  for  memories  of  a 
past  that  has  left  no  lasting  pain,  and  for  inspiring  hopes 
for  the  future,  people  gather  to  celebrate  any  anniversary. 
Whether  at  an  anniversary  of  birthday  greeting,  of  appre- 
ciation toward  a  faithful  worker,  or  of  general  thanksgiving 
and  benediction  these  elements  enter  into  it.  Such  was  the 
celebration  of  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of  the  American 
Bible  Society,  held  on  the  13th  day  of  May,  1891. 

There  was  an  assembly  in  the  afternoon  of  that  Thursday 
at  the  Bible  House,  the  Hon.  J.  L.  Chamberlain  of  Maine, 
Vice-President  of  the  Society,  presiding.  In  warm  and 
graceful  terms  greetings  were  presented  to  the  Society  from 
the  American  Board  of  Missions  by  its  President,  Rev.  R. 
S.  Storrs,  Jr.,  D.D. ;  from  the  Mission  Board  of  the  Re- 
formed Church  by  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Ferris ;  from  the  Mission- 
ary Society  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  by  Rev.  J. 
Kimber;  from  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  by  Rev.  Dr.  J.  O.  Peck ;  from  the  Ameri- 
can Tract  Society  and  the  American  Sunday  School  Union 
by  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Stevenson  and  Rev.  Dr.  M.  H.  Williams. 

The  evening  session  was  held  in  Chickering  Hall,  Presi- 
dent E.  L.  Fancher  in  the  chair.  After  a  formal  report  of 
the  progress  of  seventy-five  years  by  Secretary  Alexander 
McLean,  an  eloquent  and  powerful  address  on  the  *'  Vitality 
of  the  Bible  "  was  made  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Phillips  Brooks  of 
Boston.  Addresses  of  greeting  followed  by  the  Rev.  T. 
Aston-Binns,  from  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 
Rev.  James  Stalker  from  the  National  Bible  Society  of  Scot- 
land, and  the  Rev.  J.  Burton,  B.D.,  from  the  Upper  Canada 
Bible  Society.     These  addresses  pleasantly  emphasised  the 

431 


432     SEVENTY-FIVE  YEARS  OF  SERVICE     [1871- 

singleness  of  purpose  which  unites  different  denominations 
and  different  nationaUties  in  the  Bible  cause,  behttUng  the 
differences  which  might  hinder  union. 

The  record  of  the  third  quarter  of  a  century  of  the  Bible 
Society's  labours  w^as  one  that  quickened  faith.  The  men 
of  the  Society  had  worked  under  pressure;  they  had  suf- 
fered disappointment  in  the  support  given  by  the  home 
churches,  but  they  had  also  been  carried  to  heights  from 
which  the  outlook  gave  them  enthusiasm  for  labours  to 
come.  In  the  home  field  two  general  efforts  to  supply  the 
destitute  had  occupied  the  minds  of  the  Board;  the  first 
being  the  completion  of  the  Supply  ordered  in  1866  and  the 
other  having  been  commenced  in  1882.  These  were  the 
third  and  fourth  occasions  when  the  Society  threw  its 
strength  into  supply  of  those  destitute  throughout  the 
United  States  who  would  accept  the  Scriptures.  In  the 
third  supply  5,454,778  families  were  visited,  and  in  the 
fourth  supply  6,309,628  famiHes  were  visited  and  furnished 
books  whenever  they  were  willing  to  buy  or  to  accept  them. 

Great  numbers  of  immigrants  had  landed  upon  our  shores, 
and  the  Society  was  obliged  to  keep  in  stock  Scriptures  in 
thirty  languages  for  use  in  the  United  States,  and  to  grope 
for  means  of  putting  them  in  the  hands  of  the  new-comers. 
It  was  a  time  of  steady  work  for  the  Board,  the  Secretaries, 
and  the  twenty  district  superintendents.  In  looking  back 
over  the  period  one  seemed  to  perceive  a  great  depression 
which  was  a  hindrance  if  not  a  barrier.  The  nature  of  this 
barrier,  as  due  apparently  to  the  Christians  of  the  homeland 
themselves,  was  brought  to  light  on  examining  statistics  of 
contributions  to  the  Society  as  noted  in  detail  in  the  39th 
Chapter.  The  total  receipts  of  the  Society  in  seventy-five 
years  from  all  sources  were  $20,864,962,  but  on  analysing 
the  receipts  an  extraordinary  fact  appeared.  The  field  of 
the  Society's  operations  had  been  extending  but  there  had 
been  no  corresponding  increase  in  contributions  for  this 
work.  The  gifts  from  Auxiliary  Societies  and  from 
churches  in  the  third  quarter  century  amounted  to  $1,378,- 
000  and  $353,000  respectively.  These  amounts  were  prac- 
tically the  same  as  those  from  these  two  sources  in  the  So- 
ciety's second  quarter  century.     Gifts  from  individuals  in 


1891]  REVOLUTIONS  ABROAD  433 

'the  third  quarter  century  ($594,575)  were  actually  less  than 
those  from  the  same  source  in  the  second  ($655,643). 

Yet  the  number  of  books  issued  in  the  third  quarter  of 
the  century  was  32,448,136  volumes.  This  was  nearly  15,- 
ocx),ooo  volumes  more  than  the  number  issued  in  the  second 
quarter  century.  In  the  39th  Chapter  it  was  shown  that 
legacies  carried  the  Treasury  over  the  troubles  of  this  pe- 
riod. This  fact,  however,  did  not  make  the  failure  of  con- 
tributions from  the  living  any  less  serious  as  a  feature  of 
the  Society's  history.  There  is  nothing  to  be  said  in  criti- 
cism of  the  decisions  of  Christians  as  to  the  amount  which 
Bible  work  requires  them  to  give  for  its  support.  It  is  nec- 
essary, however,  for  every  Christian  to  bear  in  mind  each 
year  that  gifts  to  the  Bible  cause  must  increase  in  due  pro- 
portion to  the  growth  of  Christian  missions  throughout  the 
world.  After  what  has  been  written  in  past  chapters,  argu- 
ment on  this  truth  is  superfluous. 

Mention  of  Christian  missions  carries  the  thoughts  back 
to  the  chapters  on  the  work  of  the  Society  abroad.  The 
retrospect  suggests  one  extraordinary  feature  of  that  work 
during  this  period.  The  history  of  current  events  abroad 
embraces  catastrophes,  wars,  revolutions,  and  famines  like 
that  in  China  in  1878  where  people  were  starved  to  death  by 
millions.  Monarchs  were  dethroned  like  the  sultans  of  Tur- 
key, and  like  the  Emperor  of  Brazil,  and  hereditary  heirs  to 
vacant  thrones  were  sometimes  expelled  by  the  people. 
During  ten  years  from  1876  to  1886  there  seemed  to  be  a 
continuous  record  of  bloodshed  and  fighting  in  different 
parts  of  the  Society's  Levant  Agency,  ranging  from  the  in- 
surrection in  Herzegovina  and  the  Bulgarian  massacres  and 
the  war  with  Russia,  to  the  Egyptian  revolt  against  Euro- 
pean methods,  and  the  attempt  of  the  Mahdi  of  the  Soudan 
to  make  the  sword  of  Mohammed  again  a  terror  to  Europe. 
The  marvel  is  that  these  events  which  affected  a  consider- 
able portion  of  Asia  and  large  sections  of  Africa  did  not 
anywhere  permanently  block  the  extension  of  Bible  circu- 
lation. Distribution  was  checked,  the  men  engaged  in  it 
were  often  placed  in  danger,  but  such  disturbances  were  only 
temporary,  and  no  impassable  barriers  were  built  up. 

All  these  great  events  concerned  the  home  churches  as 


434    SEVENTY-FIVE  YEARS  OF  SERVICE     [1871- 

well  as  the  Bible  Society.  They  represented  the  throes  of 
nations  seeking  to  find  themselves,  and  Christians  cannot 
refuse  sympathy  to  such.  Contact  of  the  Society  with  such 
convulsions  and  with  missions  passing  through  similar  ex- 
periences interpreted  it  to  the  missions,  and  also  gave  a  bet- 
ter understanding  of  the  missions  to  the  Society.  In  the 
quiet  of  the  afterglow  it  appears  that  these  experiences 
brought  the  Society  into  the  fullest  fellowship  with  all 
American  missions  which  it  aided.  The  relation  of  the  ten 
foreign  agents  with  the  missionaries  was  that  of  trusted  and 
beloved  co-labourers  under  God.  To  all  kindred  Societies 
the  American  Bible  Society  was  a  coadjutor,  ready  to  work 
by  gifts,  by  prayers,  and  by  toils,  as  well  as  by  striving  in 
virtue  of  the  special  object  of  its  existence  to  make  the  Bible 
everywhere  the  most  easily  obtained  and  the  cheapest  of  all 
books. 

We  have  rapidly  recounted  the  means  by  which  the  So- 
ciety sought  to  increase  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  and  His 
Gospel  in  many  communities  in  Europe.  We  have  told  how 
the  *'  seals  have  been  broken  "  from  the  Bible  among  many 
nations  speaking  many  tongues.  We  have  delighted  in  the 
growth  of  Christian  ideas  and  in  the  revelation  of  the  power 
of  the  cross  of  Christ  in  the  vast  pagan  realms  of  China, 
Korea  and  Japan.  Glimpses  of  the  influence  exerted  by  the 
Bible  in  the  great  Mohammedan  Empire  have  rejoiced  our 
hearts.  It  is  a  blessed  thing  to  know  that  those  who  by 
the  Scriptures  are  lifted  up  and  united  in  the  knowledge  of 
Jesus  Christ  are  of  every  colour  and  every  race  found  in 
any  part  of  the  world. 

The  minds  of  the  speakers  at  the  Anniversary  meeting 
were  much  occupied  with  the  great  lesson  of  past  experi- 
ences ;  namely,  that  the  faith  of  the  founders  of  the  Society 
has  been  justified  by  the  results  of  distribution  of  the  Bible 
in  many  lands.  Indelibly  should  this  truth  be  impressed  on 
the  minds  of  all  supporters  of  the  Society  and  of  bystanders 
in  Christian  churches.  None  can  afiford  to  be  without 
knowledge  of  how  the  Bible  has  taken  hold  of  all  races. 
Three  instances  must  suffice  to  illustrate  the  significance  of 
this  part  of  the  story. 

In  1879  a  colporteur  in  his  journeyings  reached  the  town 


1891]     THE  MERCHANT  OF  GUARAPUAVA       435 

of  Guarapuava  in  the  Brazilian  province  of  Parana.  He 
had  no  particular  success  in  finding  purchasers  for  his  Bibles 
and  Testaments.  Men  did  not  care  for  such  books.  A 
merchant  in  that  town  seeing  that  they  were  cheap,  finally 
took  all  the  books,  thinking  he  would  make  money  in  selling 
them.  When  customers  came  in  he  would  open  the  Bible 
and  read  a  little  to  show  them  that  the  book  was  good.  He 
sold  the  books  for  three  or  four  times  what  they  cost,  and 
Scriptures  were  thus  scattered  throughout  the  region.  Five 
years  later  Rev.  Robert  Leamington  made  an  evangelistic 
tour  through  the  province  and  in  Guarapuava  many  people 
came  to  hear  him,  among  them  this  merchant,  without  show- 
ing particular  interest  in  the  gospel.  Afterwards  colpor- 
teurs and  other  Christian  labourers  stopped  at  this  town 
several  times,  and  finally  that  merchant,  as  though  he  had 
bathed  in  some  pool  of  Siloam  began  to  see  the  Bible  for  the 
first  time.  He  shut  up  his  shop  on  Sundays;  he  spent  the 
day  in  reading  the  Scriptures,  first  by  himself,  but  later  to 
people  who  could  not  read,  for  he  thought  they  ought  to 
know  these  beautiful  truths.  Out  of  this  custom  grew  an 
evangelical  reading  club.  Finally  in  April,  1888,  the  Rev. 
G.  A.  Landes  found  more  than  seventy  persons  in^  Guara- 
puava who  wished  to  make  a  profession  of  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ  as  their  Saviour.  Fifty-three  of  them  seemed  to  be 
fit  to  be  received  into  the  church  and  when  at  the  end  of  two 
weeks  he  left  the  place,  he  left  as  many  more  studying  the 
Scriptures  and  looking  forward  to  his  next  visit  as  a  time 
for  making  public  profession  of  their  faith.  The  Bible  had 
broken  down  old  superstitions  and  lifted  the  whole  group  to 
a  higher  level  of  spiritual  understanding  and  aspiration. 
In  the  providence  of  God  the  beginning  of  the  movement 
was  the  merchant  made  as  by  a  galvanic  shock  to  see  the 
crucified  One  in  the  Bible  and  then  to  feel  drawn  to  frater- 
nal interest  in  others  who  ought  to  see  the  light. 

Let  us  turn  from  Brazil  to  its  antipodes.  One  day  in 
January,  1883,  a  ship  bound  for  Japan  sighted  a  canoe  rid- 
ing easily  upon  the  surface  of  the  ocean.  It  was  curiously 
decorated  after  the  fashion  of  the  islanders  of  the  South 
Seas.  In  the  canoe  were  five  dark-skinned  men  who  lay  at 
the  point  of  death  from  starvation.     Not  unfrequently  a 


436     SEVENTY-FIVE  YEARS  OF  SERVICE     [1871- 

canoe  passing  between  two  islands  of  the  Pacific  is  blown 
out  of  sight  of  land  by  some  storm  and  becomes  lost  on  the 
trackless  ocean.  These  poor  fellows  were  rescued  by  the 
sailors,  and  kindly  nursed  back  to  life. 

As  soon  as  the  islanders  were  able  to  move  about,  they 
knelt  on  the  deck  together  and  offered  prayer,  evidently  of 
thanksgiving.  The  sailors  were  astonished ;  still  more  did 
they  wonder  on  seeing  that  among  the  few  things  saved 
from  the  canoe  were  books,  from  which  these  men  read 
every  morning  and  evening  in  their  strange  language.  To 
rescue  Pacific  islanders  always  classed  with  savages  and 
cannibals,  and  to  see  them  piously  praying  together  every 
day  was  to  the  sailors  like  being  witnesses  of  a  miracle ! 

When  the  ship  reached  Yokohama  the  remarkable  five 
men  were  found  to  be  Gilbert  Islanders  who  when  picked 
up  at  sea  were  five  hundred  miles  to  the  westward  of  their 
island  of  Apemama.  The  Scriptures  which  they  had  were 
the  fruit  of  the  life  labour  of  Dr.  Hiram  Bingham,  printed 
by  the  American  Bible  Society ;  and  the  naturalness  and  sat- 
isfaction with  which  these  men  used  the  Bible  in  their  daily 
worship  was  a  sure  token  that  the  gospel  was  rooted  in  their 
hearts.  In  their  canoe,  buffeted  by  the  waves,  starving, 
hopeless  and  about  to  die,  those  men  showed  themselves  as 
stubborn  in  the  faith  as  Job,  who  said,  "  Though  He  slay  me 
yet  will  I  trust  in  Him."  Here  again  the  effect  of  this  faith 
drawn  from  the  Bible  was  to  lift  them  into  fellowship  with 
all  of  us  who  believe.  Far  from  home  these  Gilbert  Islands' 
waifs  in  the  Christian  circles  of  Yokohama  were  still  in 
the  fraternity  to  which  they  belonged ! 

Let  us  give  another  incident  which  occurred  during  this 
same  period,  in  Persia.  In  the  city  of  Hamadan,  the  re- 
puted home  of  Esther  and  Mordecai,  some  Armenian  women 
in  1885  heard  the  story  of  Rijutei  of  Korea  and  of  his  ear- 
nest appeal  for  missionaries  and  for  Scriptures  in  Korean. 
These  women  in  far  off  Hamadan  had  received  Armenian 
Bibles  supplied  to  the  missionaries  in  Persia  by  the  Society's 
Levant  Agency.  They  well  knew  how  precious  a  possession 
the  Bible  is  and  how  destitute  those  are  who  have  it  not. 
Their  hearts  ached  for  the  people  of  Korea ;  they  put  their 
pennies  together  and  so  they  sent  a  donation  of  twelve  dol- 


1891]         NO  SERVICE  MORE  GLORIOUS  437 

lars  and  sixty  cents  to  the  Society  in  New  York  to  help  give 
Bibles  to  the  Koreans. 

It  is  some  15,000  miles  from  the  province  of  Parana  in 
Brazil,  by  way  of  the  Gilbert  Islands,  to  Hamadan  in  Per- 
sia. A  Persian  Armenian,  a  South  Sea  islander,  and  a  Bra- 
zilian merchant  have  neither  aim  nor  environment  approxi- 
mating one  another.  Yet  these  far  separated  and  widely 
differing  people  by  means  of  the  Bible  were  brought  into  a 
fraternity  whose  members  are  slowly  becoming  conformed 
to  the  image  of  the  Son  of  God !  There  is  no  conceivable 
service  more  glorious  than  that  for  which  the  Bible  Society 
was  formed  and  by  God's  grace  performs. 

The  successes  of  the  Society  were  not,  however,  a  subject 
chiefly  to  be  celebrated  at  its  seventy-fifth  anniversary.  It 
had  issued  in  seventy-five  years  54,233,712  volumes  of  Scrip- 
ture. The  fact  was  to  be  borne  in  mind,  but  the  great  sub- 
ject of  thanksgiving  and  praise  to  God  at  such  festivals  of 
the  Society  is  the  fact  which  these  incidents  and  thousands 
of  the  same  nature  attest;  namely,  the  power  of  the  Bible 
to  win  people  of  all  races  to  permanent  union  in  Jesus  Christ. 
At  the  end  of  a  Marathon  race  the  winner,  if  he  has  recov- 
ered the  power  of  speech,  tells  of  the  bursts  of  speed  by 
which  he  was  able  to  overcome  his  competitors  at  different 
parts  of  the  course.  But  no  spirit  of  rivalry  is  possible  in 
the  labours  of  a  Bible  Society.  The  Society  tells  in  its  re- 
ports what  it  has  been  called  to  do  and  in  what  places ;  but 
this  is  no  ground  for  boasting.  Its  reports  have  nothing 
resembling  the  spirit  of  the  man  in  the  temple  who  thanked 
God  because  he  was  so  good.  What  fills  the  thought  of  the 
officers  and  Agents  and  colporteurs  of  the  Society  at  such  a 
time  of  accounting  is  wonder  at  the  changes  which  the  Bible 
is  bringing  about  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  From  all  parts 
of  the  United  States,  from  all  parts  of  Latin  America,  from 
Asia,  from  Africa,  from  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  has 
come  evidence  in  literally  uncounted  sheets  that  the  Bible 
can  move  men  everywhere,  and  that  the  object  of  its  exist- 
ence is  to  win  men  to  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  cruci- 
fied. 

The  universal  living  ministry  of  this  book  was  beautifully 
unfolded  by  Rev.  Dr.  Brooks  in  his  address  at  the  Anni- 


438    SEVENTY-FIVE  YEARS  OF  SERVICE     [1871- 

versary  celebration.  Referring  to  the  varied  company 
which  had  been  blessed  with  the  word  of  God  in  the  seventy- 
five  years,  he  said :  **  With  what  various  colours  of  bright 
and  dusky  skin,  with  what  various  voices  and  tongues,  and 
various  words,  would  they  speak  in  your  ears  the  words  of 
gratitude  for  what  they  and  their  friends  have  received 
through  the  ministry  of  this  great  Society ! 

.  ,  .  ''  It  is  possible  for  us,  as  we  look  back  over  those 
seventy-five  years,  to  see  in  them  the  representation  of  the 
great  life  stories  of  years  in  which  the  Bible  has  been  dear 
to  the  hearts  of  men  and  doing  its  beneficent  work,  in  every 
age  and  nation.  We  look  back  into  the  past,  and  can  seem 
to  see  the  Bible  almost  as  if  it  were  a  great  majestic  person 
walking  through  the  history  of  human  life.  We  can  seem 
to  see  it  going  up  and  down,  doing  its  blessed  work  every- 
w^here,  with  outstretched  hands,  and  a  blessing  dropping  out 
of  those  hands,  in  every  age  through  which  it  walked,  look- 
ing at  this  life  of  ours  in  all  its  richness  and  misery,  and 
greatness  and  sin,  and  everywhere  giving  it  inspiration  and 
hope.  That  great  being  which  we  think  of  as  the  Bible  has 
come  to  us  through  these  years,  has  come  to  us  through  the 
long  history  of  the  human  race,  and  at  the  heart  and  soul 
there  is  that  great  spirit  of  hope  for  mankind,  that  great  be- 
lief in  human  nature,  which  comes  from  every  association 
with  our  human  race. 

"  And  so,  as  it  stands  to-day,  this  Bible,  bearing,  as  it  has 
moved  on  through  the  past,  this  thought,  has  been  full  of 
promise,  anticipation,  and  hope.  .  .  .  The  works  that  are 
done  for  the  progress  of  humanity  are  ever  changing  their 
form,  but  are  ever  the  same,  and  therefore  it  is  impossible 
to  understand,  on  a  jubilee  evening,  and  think  what  the  Bible 
has  done  as  it  has  been  spread  abroad  by  our  Society  and 
other  Societies,  without  looking  forward  into  the  future  and 
asking  ourselves,  as  men  who  belong  more  to  the  future  than 
to  the  past,  what  the  Bible  has  to  do  in  the  future?  If 
human  life  is  to  go  on,  if  man  is  to  be  the  same  great  living 
creature,  with  more  and  more  vitality  in  his  existence,  then 
surely  our  Bible,  which  is  the  Book  of  Life,  has  a  great 
work  to  do  in  the  future,  and  the  time  shall  never  come, 
until  the  vitality  of  our  humanity  shall  be  completely  fin- 


1891]      SOCIETY  USED  BY  THE  ALMIGHTY      439 

ished,  in  which  the  Bible  shall  not  have  its  work  to  do,  and 
they  who  can  put  the  Bible  into  any  hands  that  have  not  re- 
ceived it,  or  spread  it  before  any  eyes  that  have  not  read  it, 
shall  not  have  their  great  inspiration  and  duty  before  them." 
What  the  Society  rejoiced  in  at  this  seventy-fifth  anni- 
versary, then,  was  that  it  had  a  story  to  tell  of  how  it  had 
been  used  by  Almighty  God  to  place  this  book  in  the  hands 
of  millions  who  had  to  be  reached  in  accord  with  the  gra- 
cious plans  of  God  Himself. 


SEVENTH  PERIOD  1891-1916 
CHAPTER  XLIX 

AT   THE   BIBLE    HOUSE 

The  end  of  a  year  often  brings  serious  and  perhaps  mourn- 
ful reflections.  The  end  of  a  century  may  be  expected  to 
recall  and  emphasise  numbers  of  sad  occurrances.  The  end 
of  the  nineteenth  century  brought  to  the  men  at  the  Bible 
House  a  sense  of  calamity  almost  overwhelming.  During 
the  three  last  years  of  the  century,  the  President,  three  Cor- 
responding Secretaries  and  the  General  Agent  died.  This 
distressing  loss,  unusual  in  the  history  of  any  institution, 
had  to  be  entered  upon  the  last  page  of  the  Bible  Society's 
record  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

On  the  19th  of  March,  1898,  Rev.  Alexander  McLean, 
D.D.,  was  taken  from  this  life,  after  twenty-four  years  of 
service  as  Secretary  of  the  Society.  Dr.  McLean  was  called 
in  1874  to  the  office  of  Corresponding  Secretary.  At  first 
he  had  oversight  of  the  District  Superintendents  and  the 
colporteurs  of  the  Society  in  the  West  and  South,  and  later 
was  given  charge  of  the  correspondence  of  four  important 
foreign  Agencies.  He  was  a  man  of  generous  sympathies, 
and  easily  won  the  love  of  his  associates  and  the  esteem  of 
the  members  of  the  Board.  His  familiarity  with  methods 
and  procedure  in  ecclesiastical  bodies,  his  methodical  habits 
as  well  as  his  energy  eminently  fitted  him  for  an  office  so 
full  of  perplexing  details.  His  death  left  a  vacancy  which 
seemed  to  his  associates  most  appalling. 

In  September,  1898,  Rev.  A.  S.  Hunt,  D.D.,  Correspond- 
ing Secretary,  passed  away,  having  served  the  Society  with 
devotion  during  twenty  years.  Dr.  Hunt  had  served  on 
committees  of  the  Society  during  twelve  years  before  this, 
so  that  his  high  abilities  were  well  known.  On  the  resig- 
nation of  Secretary  Holdich  in  1878  Dr.  Hunt,  then  pastor 
of  St.  James'  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Brooklyn,  was 
called  to  the  vacant  post.  His  literary  taste  and  power  of 
expression  made  him  a  most  welcome  representative  of  the 

440 


1891-1916]     DEATH  TAKES  GREAT  MEN  441 

Society  at  conferences,  synods,  and  other  public  gatherings, 
while  his  tact  and  wisdom  and  his  unsullied  life  made  him 
an  honour  to  the  Society  which  he  loved. 

A  year  later,  in  November,  1899,  Mr.  Caleb  T.  Rowe,  for 
forty-four  years  General  Agent  of  the  Society,  finished  his 
long  and  useful  career.  In  1854  he  came  to  the  manufac- 
turing department  at  the  Bible  House  from  the  publishing 
business  in  New  York  City.  His  conscientiousness  and 
close  attention  to  detail  made  him  a  most  valuable  officer  of 
the  Society.  During  his  long  period  of  service  42,000,000 
volumes  of  Scripture  went  forth  from  the  Bible  House. 
Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Rowe  his  larger  duties  were  passed 
over  to  the  Treasurer,  Mr.  William  Foulke. 

Three  months  later,  in  February,  1900,  President  Enoch 
L.  Fancher  finished  his  earthly  career.  The  work  of  the 
Bible  Society  had  been  familiar  to  him  for  more  than  forty 
years,  since  he  became  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Managers 
in  1859.  In  only  one  instance  has  a  President  served  the 
Society  longer  than  the  fifteen  years  allotted  by  Providence 
to  Judge  Fancher.  His  Presidency,  through  his  influence 
in  the  community,  his  large  legal  knowledge  and  experience, 
and.  his  warm  love  for  the  Bible  was  of  great  benefit  to  the 
Society. 

In  December,  1900,  Rev.  Edward  Gilman,.  D.D.,  Corre- 
sponding Secretary  of  the  Society  for  almost  thirty  years, 
passed  away.  Dr.  Gilman  had  acquired  repute  as  a  pastor  in 
the  Congregational  denomination,  his  last  charge,  as  already 
mentioned,  having  been  the  Congregational  Church  in  Ston- 
ington.  Conn.  On  removal  to  the  Bible  House  he  revealed 
rare  fitness  for  the  office  of  Secretary.  All  of  the  foreign 
Agencies,  excepting  the  one  in  the  Levant  and  the  one  in 
the  La  Plata  region,  were  developed  under  his  supervision. 
He  wrote  a  large  part  of  every  annual  report  during  the 
whole  term  of  his  service.  With  rare  linguistic  ability  he 
closely  watched  over  the  versions  which  the  Society  took 
up,  and  his  love  for  literary  pursuits  made  tender  care  of 
the  Biblical  Library  an  essential  part  of  his  duties.  Twice 
Dr.  Gilman  represented  the  Society  at  important  gatherings 
in  Europe,  and  papers  prepared  by  him  for  promoting  the 
interests  of  the  Bible  cause  and  for  special  public  occasions 


442  AT  THE  BIBLE  HOUSE  [1891- 

in  the  United  States  brought  honour  to  the  Society  as  well 
as  to  himself. 

As  we  have  said,  these  afflictions  smote  heavily  the  men 
at  the  Bible  House  and  in  fact  they  were  felt  as  bereave- 
ments not  only  in  the  United  States  but  in  its  Agencies  and 
among  its  correspondents  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa.  To 
many  of  these  old  and  tried  friends  it  seemed  as  if  the  old 
order  of  things  must  change  when  these  great  leaders  were 
stricken.  It  is  always  the  case,  however,  in  a  work  which 
is  dear  to  our  Master  that  a  vacancy  among  leaders  is  quickly 
and  thoroughly  filled.  Upon  the  death  of  Dr.  McLean  the 
Rev.  John  Fox,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Brooklyn,  was  elected  Corresponding  Secretary, 
and  to  the  vacant  chair  of  Dr.  Hunt  the  Rev.  William  I. 
Haven,  D.D.,  was  called  from  St.  Mark's  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  in  Brookline,  Mass.  To  the  place  left  by  Dr. 
Oilman  the  Rev.  E.  P.  Ingersoll,  D.D.,  pastor  of  Immanuel 
Congregational  Church  in  Brooklyn,  was  invited.  In  his 
early  years  he  became  a  lawyer,  but  after  an  inward  struggle, 
he  later  decided  to  study  theology  and  enter  the  ministry. 
For  years  he  had  been  well  known  in  the  Board  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Committee  on  Agencies.  His  courtesy  and  tact 
and  broad-minded  way  of  dealing  with  affairs  won  him  the 
respect  and  affection  of  all  his  associates.  In  1904,  Dr. 
Ingersoll  represented  the  Society  at  the  Centennial  Celebra- 
tion in  London  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 
The  state  of  his  health  soon  gave  concern  to  his  associates, 
and  at  the  end  of  1906  he  resigned  his  office  after  five  years' 
service,  feeling  that  he  could  no  longer  do  justice  to  its 
demands.  Two  months  later  in  February,  1907,  his  days  on 
earth  came  to  an  end,  to  the  profound  regret  of  his 
colleagues. 

The  choice  of  a  new  President  for  the  Bible  Society  is 
a  serious  duty,  and  it  was  not  until  1903  that  the  Board 
elected  Dr.  Daniel  Coit  Oilman,  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents 
of  the  Society,  to  the  office  of  President.  Dr.  Oilman's  fame 
was  national.  His  brilliant  career  included  a  professorship 
at  Yale,  the  Presidency  of  the  University  of  California,  and 
afterwards,  for  twenty-five  years  the  Presidency  of  Johns 
Hopkins  University  in  Baltimore;  and  when  he  stepped 


I9i6]       JAMES  WOOD,  ESQ.,  PRESIDENT  443 

from  his  throne  at  Johns  Hopkins  he  had  become  the  first 
President  of  the  Carnegie  Foundation  at  Washington.  He 
was  also  President  of  the  American  Oriental  Society  and 
had  been  deeply  interested  in  Bible  work  for  many  years  as 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Maryland  Bible 
Society.  Dr.  Oilman's  tenure  of  office  was  cut  short  at  the 
end  of  five  years.  His  death  in  October,  1908,  was  very 
sudden  and  unexpected. 

In  May,  1909,  Mr.  Theophilus  Anthony  Brouwer  was 
elected  to  succeed  Dr.  Daniel  Oilman  as  President  of  the 
Society.  Mr.  Brouwer  was  of  an  old  Dutch  family  whose 
records  run  back  to  1626.  He  belonged  to  the  Dutch  Re- 
formed Church,  being  Treasurer  of  the  Collegiate  Church 
of  New  York  City.  For  sixty  years  he  had  been  connected 
with  Bible  work  in  the  city,  eighteen  years  as  Manager  of  the 
Young  Men's  New  York  Bible  Society  and  its  President 
after  it  became  the  New  York  Bible  Society,  and  for  forty- 
two  years  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Managers,  and  twenty- 
three  years  a  Vice-President  of  the  American  Bible  Society. 
The  Society  was  bereaved  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Brouwer  in 
June,  191 1. 

In  November  of  the  same  year  Vice-President  James 
Wood  was  elected  President  of  the  Society.  He  had  been 
at  that  time  for  fifteen  years  closely  connected  with  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  Society's  affairs;  and  for  many  years 
President  of  the  Westchester  County  (N.  Y.)  Bible  Society. 
He  occupies  the  highest  official  position  in  the  Society  of 
Friends,  being  chairman  of  the  Five  Years  Meeting,  and 
for  many  years  he  has  been  the  presiding  officer  of  the  New 
York  yearly  meeting  of  that  Society. 

Among  the  Vice-Presidents  taken  from  the  Society  by 
death  were  Ex-Presidents  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  (d.  1893) 
and  Benjamin  Harrison  (d.  1901).  Hon.  David  J.  Brewer, 
Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  died  in  1909.  He 
inherited  the  missionary  spirit  which  kept  warm  his  interest 
in  the  Society  from  his  father,  an  early  missionary  in  Tur- 
key. In  1909  also  died  Major-General  O.  O.  Howard,  a 
Vice-President  during  thirty-eight  years,  and  a  thorough 
Christian  gentleman.  Vice-President  J.  H.  Taft  (d.  1905) 
was  a  man  of  systematic  benevolence  and  spotless  character 


444  AT  THE  BIBLE  HOUSE  [1891- 

and  was  for  thirty  years  a  member  of  the  Board.  Vice- 
President  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  pupil  and  successor  in  states- 
manship and  oratory  of  Daniel  Webster,  died  in  1894.  He 
was  for  thirty  years  Vice-President  of  the  Society  and  was 
also  President  of  the  Massachusetts  Bible  Society.  In  1896, 
Hon.  G.  G.  Wright  passed  away,  the  "  Patriarch  Statesman  " 
of  Iowa,  and  during  twenty-five  years  a  Vice-President. 
Vice-President  Elbert  A.  Brinckerhoff  died  in  1913,  after  a 
long  and  valued  service  as  member  of  the  Committee  on 
Finance.  Another  member  of  the  Committee  on  Finance 
was  Vice-President  E.  B.  Tuttle  (d.  1914),  an  influential 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  twenty 
years  a  Manager  of  the  Society.  In  the  same  year  the  Hon. 
S.  B.  Capen,  President  of  the  American  Board  of  Missions, 
died  at  Shanghai,  China,  in  the  midst  of  a  visitation  to  the 
missions  abroad.  In  the  same  year,  too,  died  the  Hon.  J.  L. 
Chamberlain  of  Maine,  forty-three  years  Vice-President  of 
the  Society  which  he  loved,  who  during  the  Civil  War  was 
promoted  on  the  battlefield  by  General  U.  S.  Grant  for  dis- 
tinguished service.  John  L.  Williams,  Esq.,  warmly  inter- 
ested in  Bible  work,  having  been  during  forty-one  years  a 
Manager  of  the  Virginia  Auxiliary  Bible  Society,  died  in 
19 14.  He  was  of  unique  personality  and  great  in  his  Chris- 
tian influence. 

Among  the  Managers  taken  away  by  death  during  this 
period  we  ought  to  name  A.  D.  F.  Randolph,  Esq.  (d.  1897), 
whose  long  experience  as  a  publisher  made  him  a  very  valu- 
able member  of  the  Committee  on  Publication.  In  1904 
F.  Wolcott  Jackson,  Esq.,  died,  for  twenty-five  years  member 
of  the  Board  of  Managers.  He  was  a  descendant  of  Oliver 
Wolcott,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  In 
1908  the  Board  of  Managers  lost  three  valuable  members: 
Dr.  H.  D.  Nicoll,  an  eminent  surgeon.  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  raising  the  Endowment  under  Mrs.  Russell 
Sage's  offer;  J.  S.  Pierson,  Esq.,  for  twenty-one  years  a 
member  of  the  Board,  deeply  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
sailors,  having  served  the  New  York  Bible  Society  efifec- 
tively  in  its  marine  department,  and  also  the  New  York  Port 
Society;  and  G.  E.  Sterry,  Esq.,  a  successful  merchant,  for 
seventeen  years  a  member  of  the  Board  and  of  its  Distribu- 


I9i6]  APPOINTMENTS  TO  STAFF  445 

tion  Committee,  a  man  of  strong  influence  and  wise  in  coun- 
sel. In  191 1  the  Society  lost  Frederick  Sturges,  Esq.,  for 
thirty-six  years  a  member  of  the  Board,  a  banker  most  valu- 
able in  the  Finance  Committee,  and  W.  T.  Booth,  Esq.,  one 
of  the  last  of  the  older  group  of  Managers,  who  had  been 
for  thirty-six  years  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Distribu- 
tion. E.  P.  Tenney,  Esq.,  died  in  1912,  greatly  valued  in  the 
Committee  on  Agencies  during  fourteen  years.  T.  G.  Sel- 
lew,  Esq.,  a  prosperous  business  man,  for  twenty-four  years 
a  member  of  the  Board,  died  in  1913.  Alexander  E.  Orr,  for 
tliirty  years  a  member  of  the  Board,  eminent  in  financial 
circles  in  New  York  City,  died  in  1914.  The  same  year 
James  A.  Punderford,  Esq.,  for  twenty-six  years  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board,  finished  his  useful  service  on  earth. 

Appointments  to  the  staff  of  the  Society  were  Rev.  H.  O. 
Dwight,  LL.D.,  for  thirty-two  years  a  missionary  of  the 
American  Board  in  Turkey,  who  was  elected  Recording 
Secretary  in  1907;  and  in  preparation  of  the  Centenary  of 
the  Society,  Dr.  Dwight  having  been  set  apart  to  prepare  a 
history  of  its  operations,  the  Rev.  Henry  J.  Scudder,  B.D.,  of 
the  Arcot  Mission  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America,  at 
home  on  furlough,  was  elected  in  1914  Acting  Recording 
Secretary  of  the  Society.  In  191 5,  as  the  work  increased  of 
preparing  a  proper  celebration  of  the  Centennial,  the  Rev. 
L.  B.  Chamberlain,  M.A.,  also  of  the  Arcot  Mission  of  the 
Reformed  Church  in  America,  and  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Jacob  Chamberlain,  long  a  correspondent  of  the  Society  in 
India,  was  elected  Assistant  Corresponding  Secretary. 

Early  in  1896  an  arrangement  was  made  with  the  New 
York  Public  Library  by  which  the  Society's  collection  of 
books  and  manuscripts  was  transferred  to  the  custody  of  that 
institution  as  a  special  deposit.  At  the  Bible  House  were 
retained  only  those  books  which  are  necessary  for  reference 
in  the  ordinary  work  of  the  Society.  The  object  of  the 
Board  in  proposing  this  arrangement  was  in  the  first  place 
the  protection  of  this  precious  collection  from  danger  of  fire, 
and  secondly,  the  convenience  of  access  by  scholars  and  the 
public  to  its  accumulated  treasures.  The  collection,  which 
consists  of  between  5,000  and  6,000  volumes,  will  continue 
to  be  known  as  the  Library  of  the  American  Bible  Society. 


446  AT  THE  BIBLE  HOUSE  [1891- 

By  far  the  larger  part  of  the  Biblical  Library  consists  of 
Scriptures  in  many  languages,  beginning  with  English  Bibles 
antedating  the  Authorized  Version,  as  well  as  issues  of  161 1 
and  subsequent  reprints.  Histories  of  the  Bible,  of  Bible 
translation  and  of  Bible  Societies,  and  biographies  or 
memorials  of  men  of  renown  in  Bible  work,  especially  of 
those  connected  with  the  American  Bible  Society,  are  also 
found  among  these  treasures. 

The  Secretaries  of  the  Society  perform  one  important 
service  of  which  the  difficulty  is  rarely  appreciated  by  those 
who  profit  thereby.  This  is  the  preparation  and  distribu- 
tion through  the  country  of  literature  of  information. 
Some  30,000  life  directors  and  life  members  of  the  Society, 
and  literally  thousands  of  churches  are  thus  supplied  with 
little  documents  showing  the  story  of  the  Society  in  the  mak- 
ing. There  are  between  twenty  and  thirty  of  such  leaflets 
or  booklets,  always  fresh  from  fields  in  which  any  particular 
pastor  or  church  is  interested.  What  is  known  as  the 
"  Story  of  the  American  Bible  Society  "  tells,  mainly  by  in- 
cidents, about  the  Society's  work  each  year.  The  Annual 
Report  is  a  great  book  of  over  five  hundred  pages  containing 
details  and  statistics  from  the  home  and  foreign  fields.  This 
is  sent  at  the  cost  of  postage  on  request  to  members  of  the 
Society,  to  libraries,  and  to  pastors  and  other  individuals  who 
wish  to  keep  up  with  the  march  of  progress.  Besides  all  this 
literature  the  Bible  Society  Record,  an  illustrated  monthly, 
goes  to  the  members  of  the  Society  and  to  friends  and  sub- 
scribers who  pay  a  merely  nominal  price  to  cover  postage. 

The  work  of  printing  at  the  Bible  House  is  always  inter- 
esting. One  of  its  new  features  is  the  steady  increase  in  the 
number  of  Scriptures  in  the  English  language  absorbed  by 
the  United  States.  The  report  of  1891  stated  this  number 
as  850,139,  and  that  of  191 5  as  1,862,754  volumes.  In  1904 
the  Society  at  its  annual  meeting  adopted  a  modification  of 
the  Constitution  by  which  the  revisions  of  the  Authorized 
Version  of  the  English  Bible  as  well  as  that  version  can  here- 
after be  issued  by  the  Society.  With  this  permission  an  ar- 
rangement was  made  with  owners  of  the  copyright  by  which 
certain  editions  of  the  American  Standard  Revision  were 
added  to  the  Society's  list  of  English  Bibles. 


I9i6]  STRANGE  TONGUES  PRINTED  447 

From  the  Bible  House  constantly  issue  strange  tongues. 
If  the  books  could  speak  aloud  as  they  go  forth  it  would 
seem  to  the  multitude  like  chattering  magpies.  Durmg 
this  period  the  African  languages,  Mpongwe,  Benga,  Tonga, 
Bulu,  Sheetswa  and  Zulu  have  been  jostling  each  other  in 
the  press  rooms  and  have  gone  forth  to  the  different  parts  of 
Africa  where  the  languages  are  spoken ;  the  Sheetswa  and 
the  Zulu  including  the  whole  Bible,  and  the  others  going  out 
in  portions  as  the  translation  proceeds.  By  far  the  greatest 
circulation  attained  by  African  Scriptures  of  the  Society  is 
that  of  the  Zulu.  During  the  period  from  1891  to  1915  cov- 
ered by  the  statistics  in  hand,  Zulu  Scriptures  printed  at  the 
Bible  House  were  shipped  to  Africa  to  the  amount  of  220, 
179  volumes. 

For  the  American  Indians  the  Muskogee  Bible  translated 
for  the  main  part  by  Mrs.  A.  E.  W.  Robertson,  has  been 
printed,  and  sent  out  to  the  Indians  anxiously  awaiting  it. 
Other  new  Indian  versions  were  the  Arapahoe,  of  which  the 
Gospel  of  Luke  was  prepared  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Roberts, 
printed  in  1902,  and  the  Navaho  of  which  some  portions  pre- 
pared in  co-operation  with  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Home 
Missions,  were  printed  in  191 1. 

All  of  these  versions  are  the  result  of  consecrated  talents. 
The  names  of  many  missionaries  engaged  in  translation  or 
revision  will  be  found  in  the  appendix.  That  the  work  of 
these  missionaries  is  not  improperly  called  a  work  of  genius 
is  clear  when  one  considers  the  difficulties  of  a  task  success- 
fully completed.  The  words,  "  I  am  the  bread  of  life,"  seem 
to  form  one  of  the  easiest  of  sentences  to  translate  ;  but  what 
shall  be  done  in  Micronesia  or  in  Korea  where  there  is  no 
bread?  It  requires  much  thought  to  discover  a  way  of  re- 
producing with  exactness  in  the  translations  the  force  and 
the  life  of  the  words  of  Scripture.  ,    ,      ^^. 

An  interesting  incident  of  the  supply  of  the  ]\licronesian 
Islands  was  the  aid  given  by  the  Society  to  the  publication  of 
the  New  Testament  in  the  language  of  the  Island  of  Nauru 
(Pleasant  Island),  if  that  lonely  pile  of  rocks  may  be  con- 
sidered a  part  of  the  Micronesian  field.  Mr.  P.  A.  Dela- 
porte,  missionary  of  the  American  Board,  made  the  transla- 
tion.    The  Hawaiian  Missionary  Society  gave  him  a  pnnt- 


448  AT  THE  BIBLE  HOUSE  [1891- 

ing  press ;  the  Nauru  Islanders  connected  with  the  mission 
school  did  the  typesetting;  the  translator's  salary  was  paid 
by  the  Central  Church  in  Honolulu,  while  the  binding  of  the 
book,  as  well  as  the  cost  of  the  paper  was  supplied  by  the 
Society.  This  new  book  began  its  work  in  1907  among  the 
Nauru  people.  Another  language  of  the  islanders  of  the 
Pacific  was  placed  upon  the  Society's  list  in  1908.  The 
Island  of  Guam  which  seems  to  be  an  appanage  of  the  Navy 
of  the  United  States,  was  occupied  as  a  mission  station  by 
the  American  Board,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Price,  the  missionary, 
translated  the  Psalms,  the  four  Gospels,  and  the  Acts  into 
the  Chamorro  language  spoken  in  that  Island.  These  also 
were  issued  from  the  Bible  House. 

An  inspirational  story  is  connected  with  the  translation 
of  the  Bible  into  the  language  of  the  Gilbert  Islands.  This 
was  the  life  work  of  the  Rev.  Hiram  Bingham,  Jr.,  D.D. 
Dr.  Bingham's  missionary  life  in  Micronesia  began  in  1857, 
when  he  and  his  wife  from  the  little  boat  of  a  sailing  vessel 
were  landed  like  marooned  sailors  on  an  island  just  below 
the  Equator.  They  had  come  to  teach  the  islanders  the  gos- 
pel. Neither  of  them  knew  a  word  of  the  language  spoken 
on  that  island,  and  of  course  the  islanders  knew  no  Eng- 
lish. By  the  familiar  method  of  taking  hold  of  something 
and  getting  the  people  to  tell  its  name,  a  vocabulary  was 
built  up.  As  soon  as  possible  Dr.  Bingham  followed  the 
charge  given  to  him  at  ordination  by  his  father :  "  Acquire 
the  language  of  the  people  to  whom  you  go ;  reduce  it  to 
writing ;  translate  the  Scriptures."  Thirty-four  years  after 
that  lonely  couple  was  left  on  that  island  Dr.  Bingham  com- 
pleted the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  Gilbert  Islands 
language.  Dr.  Bingham  tried  to  print  the  first  Gospel  which 
he  translated  at  his  little  palm-clad  island  5,000  miles  from 
San  Francisco.  A  printing  press,  type,  and  material  had 
been  sent  to  him  from  the  United  States,  but  he  could  not 
make  it  work.  The  two  American  exiles  were  almost  de- 
spairing, when  a  small  boat  appeared  at  the  lagoon  bringing 
shipwrecked  sailors  who  had  rowed  a  thousand  miles  in 
search  of  land  and  at  last  found  this  island.  One  of  these 
sailors  had  been  a  printer.  He  readily  consented  to  stay 
and  show  the  missionary  how  to  set  up  and  use  the  printing 


I9i6]         DR.  BINGHAM'S  GREAT  WORK  449 

press.  In  that  strange  way  the  Gilbert  Islanders  received 
their  first  glimpse  of  the  Gospels. 

A  very  pleasant  circumstance  w^as  the  completion  of  the 
printing  of  the  Bible  in  New  York.  On  the  nth  of 
April,  1893,  Dr.  Bingham  and  his  wife,  the  Secretary  of 
the  American  Board,  with  the  Secretaries  of  the  Bible  So- 
ciety, and  others,  gathered  in  the  composing  room  on  the 
sixth  floor  of  the  Bible  House.  There  a  short  service  of 
prayer  was  held.  Then  the  composer  put  in  type  the  last 
verse  of  the  book  of  Revelation.  Dr.  Bingham  read  the 
proof  to  see  that  all  was  right;  the  page  was  taken  down 
to  the  press  room  and  the  last  pages  of  the  first  complete 
Bible  in  the  Gilbert  Islands  language  were  printed.  In 
October,  1908,  this  arduous  but  noble  and  joyous  life  came  to 
an  end ;  not,  however,  until  the  painstaking  missionary  had 
watched  over  the  issue  of  eight  editions  of  the  Bible  to  the 
preparation  of  which  he  had  given  his  heart  and  his  whole 
strength. 

In  1897  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  For- 
eign Missions,  which  had  occupied  quarters  in  the^  Bible 
House  during  forty-three  years,  decided  to  remove  its  of- 
fices to  Twenty-Second  Street.  Sacred  memories  cling  to 
the  rooms  which  this  Society  so  long  occupied.  Perhaps  the 
most  of  the  2,000  missionaries  sent  out  by  the  American 
Board  since  its  organisation  had  been  welcomed  there  as  they 
returned  for  rest  after  years  and  years  of  toil,  or  as  they 
newly  went  out  to  the  field. 

The  assembling  in  New  York  of  delegates  of  missionary 
Societies  from  the  whole  Protestant  world  was  an  event  of 
the  year  1900  in  which  the  Society  was  deeply  concerned. 
Ex-President  Benjamin  Harrison,  a  Vice-President  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,  was  honourary  chairman  of  the 
Conference.  Secretary  Gilman  made  a  telling  address  on  the 
Bible  Cause  entitled  "  The  Gift  of  the  Nineteenth  Century 
to  the  Twentieth,"  and  Secretary  Fox  and  Secretary  Plaven 
were  members  of  Committees  and  otherwise  contributed  to 
the  success  of  the  Conference.  The  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  was  nobly  represented  both  in  the  persons  of 
its  delegates  and  in  their  utterances.  The  meetings  were 
held  in  Carnegie  Hall  and  in  several  neighbouring  churches 


450  AT  THE  BIBLE  HOUSE        [1891-1916 

during  ten  days  and  created  a  profound  impression.  Includ- 
ing many  other  addresses  on  the  Bible  cause,  besides  those 
just  mentioned,  six  hundred  and  fifty-one  addresses  were 
made  during  the  conference.  It  is  needless  to  add,  the  Bible 
Societies  stood  in  this  great  meeting  as  a  symbol  of  the  unity 
of  Protestant  denominatons  throughout  the  world.  One  re- 
sult of  this  great  missionary  conference  was  the  formation 
of  what  is  known  as  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  composed  of  representatives 
of  more  than  forty  different  missionary  Societies,  including 
the  American  Bible  Society,  which  meets  annually  to  con- 
sider the  means  of  securing  greater  efficiency  by  united  action 
throughout  the  world. 

The  year  1903  was  the  one  hundredth  year  of  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  and,  on  the  suggestion  of  that 
Society,  its  American  co-labourers  secured  the  observance 
of  March  6th,  1904,  throughout  the  United  States  as  Bible 
day.  At  the  Centenary  Meeting  in  London,  May,  1904,  the 
Hon.  Joseph  Choate,  a  life  Director  of  the  Society  and 
Ambassador  of  the  United  States,  and  Secretary  Ingersoll 
were  the  representatives  of  the  American  Society,  both  mak- 
ing addresses  which  were  enthusiastically  received  by  the 
audience. 

In  191 1  a  celebration  of  the  three  hundredth  anniversary 
of  the  publication  of  the  King  James  Version  of  the  Bible 
was  promoted  in  the  United  States  by  the  Society.  Celebra- 
tions were  held  in  different  parts  of  the  country  culminating 
in  a  great  meeting  at  Carnegie  Hall  in  New  York,  when  let- 
ters of  greeting  were  read  from  the  President  of  the  United 
States  and  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  and  addresses  from 
distinguished  men  on  different  phases  of  the  influence  of  the 
Bible  upon  the  English  speaking  world  held  the  attention 
of  a  great  audience  until  a  late  hour. 

One  of  the  salient  features  of  the  period  was  the  organisa- 
tion of  special  Home  Agencies  of  distribution  intended  to 
do  a  work  of  supply  of  the  destitute  which  the  increase  of 
population  made  it  impossible  for  the  Society  to  achieve  by 
the  old  method  of  periodical  efforts  at  general  supply.  Nine 
of  these  Home  Agencies  have  been  established  which  are 
more  fully  described  in  another  chapter. 


CHAPTER  L 

CHANGES   IN  THE  AUXILIARY   SYSTEM 

All  of  the  great  cities  of  this  country  give  constant  illus- 
tration of  the  processes  of  reconstruction  going  forward 
without  serious  interruption  to  the  use  of  ancient  methods. 
New  terminals  are  erected  and  trains  are  kept  on  schedule 
time.  Subways  are  dug  beneath  great  avenues  without 
any  apparent  diminution  of  the  ceaseless  traffic  on  those 
thoroughfares.     This  is  true  the  world  around. 

It  seems  characteristic  of  human  nature  to  rebuild  its  shell. 
As  the  Bible  Society  is  an  intensely  human  institution  it  is 
not  strange  that  this  characteristic  should  reveal  itself  in  its 
history. 

The  story  of  the  Auxiliary  Societies  has  been  recounted 
in  these  pages.  The  Society  was  founded  by  Societies,  many 
of  whom  became  its  Auxiliaries.  Some  abide  in  strength  to 
this  day.  The  spirit  of  the  beginnings  spread  all  over  the 
republic  until  every  state  was  dotted  with  local  Bible  Socie- 
ties. 

The  record  of  the  achievement  of  these  Societies  would  be 
a  notable  contribution  to  American  History.  In  our  grow- 
ing cities  and  towns  the  most  influential  men  were  Presi- 
dents and  Vice-Presidents  and  Secretaries  and  Treasurers  of 
these  Societies.  The  list  of  these  well  known  and  well  be- 
loved men  and  women  ( for  the  Deborahs  and  the  Hannahs 
and  the  Marys  have  had  their  part  in  this  local  work  as  con- 
spicuously as  the  judges  and  the  rulers  of  the  land)  would 
prove  a  veritable  ''  Who's  Who  "  through  the  decades. 

A  local  Bible  Society  meeting  was  for  years  one  of  the 
events  of  the  year  in  these  communities.  Friends  would 
drive  in  from  the  surrounding  country.  Some  local  church 
would  provide  an  entertainment,  and  a  bounteous  feast  it 
would  be.     The  election  of  officers  and  the  report  would  be 

451 


452  THE  AUXILIARY  SYSTEM  [1891- 

the  feature  of  the  morning  and  then  would  come  the  social 
hour  in  which  neighbours  of  different  communions  and  of 
different  communities  would  mingle  as  at  some  high  festival, 
and  later  a  preacher  of  distinction  would  exalt  the  place  of 
the  Bible  in  the  life  of  the  people.  A  New  England  town 
meeting,  a  Southern  barbecue  was  not  more  democratic  or  a 
better  centre  for  the  neighbourhood  interest  than  the  County 
Bible  Society  Annual  Meeting. 

When  one  realises  that  at  one  time  there  were  more  than 
two  thousand  of  these  Auxiliaries,  each  with  their  retinue 
of  memorable  names  in  the  laity  and  the  ministry,  one  real- 
ises what  a  power  they  were.  Would  that  the  golden  age 
could  be  repeated ! 

Nearly  two  decades  ago  the  Board  of  Managers  awak- 
ened to  the  fact  that  the  spirit  of  the  times  had  changed; 
that  many  of  these  Societies  were  like  the  Church  at  Laodi- 
cea  which  had  a  name  to  live  and  was  dead.  In  1893  out 
of  2000  Auxiliaries  only  107  reported  as  conducting  can- 
vasses of  their  communities.  In  1895  only  116  Auxiliaries 
supported  workers  in  their  field.  In  1900  out  of  nearly  2000 
Auxiliaries  only  113  reported  any  general  operations  and  in 
1902  only  46.  A  printed  blank  was  annually  sent  from 
the  national  office  to  each  of  these  Auxiliaries  with  columns 
prepared  in  which  to  report  the  general  operations  in  the 
canvassing  of  the  local  field.  One  of  these  returned  bore 
this  significant  message,  "  These  things  are  not  done  here.'* 

A  part  of  the  explanation  of  the  somewhat  rapid  dissolu- 
tion of  many  of  these  local  Societies  which  often  existed  in 
one  person  alone  or  in  some  local  store  where  a  few  Bibles 
were  kept  for  sale ;  sometimes  a  meat  shop ;  sometimes  a 
millinery  store ;  som'etimes  as  by  the  following  advertise- 
ment :  "  The  Legget  Store  on  Main  Street  has  been  receiv- 
ing necessary  repairs,  decorations  and  general  cleaning  up, 
in  anticipation  of  its  being  opened  by  Jose  Gallardo.  Gal- 
lardo  will  continue  to  carry  on  the  hair-dressing  and  shaving 
business,  and  in  addition  the  manufacture  of  the  hair  and 
sale  of  the  works  of  The  American  Bible  Society  " —  lies  in 
the  removal  of  the  staff  of  workers  known  as  District  Super- 
intendents. 

The  work  of  these  representatives  of  the  Society  has  al- 


igi6]  DISTRICT  SUPERINTENDENTS  453 

ready  been  explained.  Their  main  function  was  to  assist 
the  local  officers  in  the  care  of  their  accounts ;  the  handling 
of  their  books  and  in  general  to  keep  them  in  vigour  where 
possible.  The  cost  of  these  superintendents  became  a  notice- 
able burden  on  the  Society's  funds  as  compared  with  the  in- 
come from  the  Auxiliaries.  The  expense  of  these  District 
Superintendents  was  between  $50,000  and  $60,000  a  year. 
It  had  been  reduced  to  $30,000,  but  the  outlay  had  not  been 
met  by  satisfactory  results  even  in  Bible  circulation,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  collection  of  funds. 

Twenty-one  District  Superintendents  represented  the  So- 
ciety during  the  year  ending  March  31st,  1898.  Gradually 
these  Superintendents  had  been  given  the  care  of  colporteurs 
which  were  supported  not  by  the  Auxiliaries,  but  by  the 
national  Society.  In  1894  the  Society  employed  thirty  such 
colporteurs.  In  1895  twenty-seven  colporteurs  in  twelve 
states  and  two  territories  carried  forward  their  work  under 
the  supervision  of  the  District  Superintendents.  The  Dis- 
trict Superintendents  in  the  latter  years  were  instructed  to 
direct  their  energies  also  to  the  collection  of  money  from 
churches  which  the  Auxiliaries  failed  to  reach.  It  was 
clear  that  this  method  had  failed  owing  to  the  changed  condi- 
tions. A  general  notice,  therefore,  was  sent  out  to  all  the 
Auxiliary  Societies  in  1897  that  no  District  Superintendent 
would  be  commissioned  for  the  fiscal  year  opening  April  i, 
1898.  For  seventy-five  years  a  devoted  body  of  men  had 
performed  the  duties  of  this  office.  With  this  prop  gone 
the  whole  structure  collapsed  as  a  continental  organisation 
for  meeting  the  needs  of  Bible  distribution  in  this  great 
country. 

Many  notable  illustrations  of  continued  vitality  existed  and 
still  exist.  Certain  Welsh  Societies,  born  out  of  the  en- 
thusiasm which  made  Thomas  Charles  of  Bala  and  Joseph 
Hughes  the  creators  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  So- 
ciety ;  here  and  there  Female  Bible  Societies  in  which  grand- 
daughters kept  alive  the  memory  of  their  grandmothers, 
gracious  ladies  of  an  earlier  day ;  and  certain  County  Socie- 
ties blessed  with  the  leadership  of  families  that  had  con- 
tinued their  homesteads,  generation  after  generation,  on  the 
same  acres  or  in  the  same  cities ;  together  with  a  few  State 


454  THE  AUXILIARY  SYSTEM  [1891- 

Societies ;  were  fruitful  in  advancing  years  locally,  and  lib- 
eral, according  to  their  resources,  to  the  national  Society. 
As  a  system  the  machinery  had  ceased  to  turn  because  its 
popular  support  had  failed. 

Facing  this  situation  and  realising  that  the  Society  had 
been  created  to  meet  the  needs  of  this  great  nation,  the  Board 
of  Managers  decided  in  1899  to  call  a  conference  of  the 
Auxiliaries.  Already  a  special  circular  had  been  sent  re- 
questing these  local  Societies  to  enter  into  closer  relations 
with  the  Secretaries  of  the  national  Society  after  the  dis- 
continuance of  the  District  Superintendents  and  a  special 
arrangement  had  been  entered  into  with  the  Brooklyn  Bible 
Society  and  the  New  York  Bible  Society  in  which  the  offer- 
ings were  to  be  taken  in  both  communities  in  the  name  of 
both  Societies  and  a  definite  proportion  guaranteed  for  the 
local  work  whch  should  equal  the  average  income  for  a  num- 
ber of  preceding  years.  October  10,  1900,  this  Conference 
of  Auxiliaries  was  held  at  the  Bible  House,  New  York. 
Representatives  came  from  regions  widely  enough  scattered 
to  make  it  a  genuinely  representative  gathering. 

The  following  series  of  resolutions  were  adopted  which 
the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  American  Bible  Society  were 
requested  to  present  to  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society 
to  be  held  the  following  spring.  In  view  of  the  consequences 
of  the  action  of  this  Conference,  this  series  of  resolutions 
is  presented  as  adopted  entire : 

1.  Resolved,  That  we  recognise  the  fact  that  the  system 
of  transacting  business  between  the  American  Bible  Society 
and  the  local  Societies  throughout  the  country,  while  it  has 
worked  successfully  in  the  past,  owing  to  the  changes  that 
have  taken  place,  has  become  unsuited  to  the  present  require- 
ments ;  and  this  Conference  asks  the  American  Bible  Society 
to  carefully  consider  the  whole  question  of  its  relation  to  the 
Auxiliary  Societies,  and  to  formulate  and  present  to  the 
Annual  fleeting  of  the  American  Bible  Society  such  plans  as 
may  appear  best  suited  to  existing  conditions. 

2.  Resolved,  That  we  recognise  that  correct  business 
methods  should  be  observed  in  the  transaction  of  business 
between  the  American  Bible  Society  and  the  Auxiliary  So- 
cieties, and  in  the  judgment  of  this  Conference  all  books 


I9i6]  RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED  455 

shipped  by  the  national  Society  to  the  local  Societies  should 
be  distinctly  under  the  heads  of  gift  or  of  sale,  and  that  the 
ownership  of,  and  responsibility  for,  such  shipments  are, 
and  must  be,  with  the  local  Societies. 

3.  Resolved,  That  special  communities  and  exceptional 
populations  throughout  the  country  should  be  supplied  with 
the  Scriptures  by  the  local  organisations  if  there  are  such, 
but  where  there  are  no  local  Societies,  or  where  such  Socie- 
ties are  unable  to  do  the  work  required,  the  business  should 
be  undertaken  by  the  national  Society. 

4.  Resolved^  That  the  Conference  recognises  the  identity 
of  interest  of  the  Bible  cause,  whether  promoted  by  national 
or  local  agencies,  and  that  every  district  of  our  country 
should  contribute  to  both  these  agencies.  Each  has  a  right 
to  solicit  for  its  support,  the  local  Society  in  its  territory,  and 
the  national  Society  everywhere.  In  this  work  there  should 
be  entire  harmony  of  action. 

5.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Conference  the 
depositories  through  the  country  should  be  much  reduced  in 
number  and  continued  only  in  those  places  where  the  judg- 
ment of  the  local  Societies  deems  them  required. 

6.  Resolved,  That  the  Auxiliary  Societies  should  en- 
deavour to  induce  all  the  churches  in  their  territory  to  de- 
vote one  service  in  the  year  to  the  presentation  of  the  Bible 
cause,  and  that  the  closest  relations  between  the  churches 
and  the  Bible  Societies  should  be  fostered  by  every  practica- 
ble means. 

7.  Resolved,  That  we  recognise  that  the  foreign  mission 
work  of  the  American  Bible  Society  is  among  the  great  and 
efficient  agencies  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  throughout 
the  world,  and  that  the  missions  of  all  the  churches  are 
greatly  aided  thereby.  The  importance  of  this  work  should 
appeal  to  the  Christian  people  of  our  country  and  should 
have  universal  support.  In  the  judgment  of  this  Conference 
this  feature  of  the  work  should  be  presented  by  the  local 
Societies  and  in  the  churches  everywhere. 

8.  Resolved,  That,  as  representatives  of  Auxiliaries  of 
the  American  Bible  Society,  in  Conference  assembled,  we 
gratefully  acknowledge  the  cordial  reception  given  us  by 
the  representatives  of  the  Parent  Society,  and  we  hereby  re- 


456  THE  AUXILIARY  SYSTEM  [1891- 

assure  the  Society  of  our  cordial  sympathy  and  readiness  to 
co-operate  in  all  departments  of  its  great  work  to  the  extent 
of  our  ability. 

The  whole  Conference  was  a  most  cordial  and  satisfactory 
gathering.  At  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society  in  May, 
1901,  the  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted. 

At  this  time  the  following  provision  was  made  for  the  re- 
vision of  the  roll  of  the  Auxiliaries.  Where  local  Societies 
sent  no  report  of  their  activities  for  three  years  to  the  na- 
tional office,  or  forwarded  no  contribution  for  the  general 
work  of  the  Society,  it  was  decided  that  they  should  cease  to 
be  regarded  as  AuxiHaries.  Here  and  there  a  local  Society 
might  continue  to  buy  books  from  the  Bible  House,  but  this 
was  not  a  sufficient  nexus.  If  no  contributions  were  made 
to  the  world-wide  interests  of  the  national  Society  and  there 
was  not  sufficient  life  to  report  local  activities,  it  seemed  to 
the  Society  that  the  local  institutions  could  not  properly  be 
considered  auxiliary. 

Under  the  operations  of  this  new  arrangement,  the  total 
of  Societies  reported  very  soon  fell  from  the  thousands  to 
the  hundreds.  In  the  year,  1904,  804  Auxiliaries  were  re- 
moved from  the  list  because  they  had  either  ceased  to  be  liv- 
ing Societies,  or  at  least  had  failed  to  have  any  part  in  the 
work  of  the  American  Bible  Society.  In  every  case  com- 
munications had  been  sent  to  these  Societies  and  they  had 
been  urged  to  take  on  new  life.  "  The  smoking  flax  He  did 
not  quench,"  was  the  text  of  the  Society  in  these  relations 
with  its  Auxiliaries.  In  too  many  instances  there  was 
neither  fire  nor  smoke,  and  in  very  many  cases  the  letters 
sent  out  to  the  Auxiliary  officers  came  back  like  Noah's  dove 
to  the  ark. 

Various  reasons  had  brought  this  about.  The  immense 
changes  in  transportation  which  had  united  the  whole  coun- 
try into  one  big  community  so  that  the  local  isolation  that 
gave  a  "  raison  d'etre  "  for  the  local  Society  in  the  earlier 
days  had  passed  away.  The  development  of  the  use  of  the 
mail ;  the  distribution  effected  by  great  department  stores 
and  mail  order  establishments ;  the  change  in  the  character 
of  American  communities,  where  the  permanent  ministry 
that  had  given  strength  to  any  local  Societies  existed  no 


I9i6]  THE  OLDER  AUXILIARIES  457 

longer,  the  pastorate  of  thirty  and  forty  years  being  as  ex- 
tinct as  the  stage  coach ;  the  moving  about  from  place  to  place 
of  families  so  that  the  old-fashioned  homestead  remained 
chiefly  in  story  books ;  the  demands  upon  the  churches  for 
the  support  of  new  enterprises ;  and  the  spirit  of  the  times  in 
which  the  thing  that  was  new  appealed  more  than  that  which 
was  old,  all  worked  together  to  bring  about  the  new  condition 
of  things. 

There  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  return  thanks  for  all 
the  years  and  look  forward  to  the  new  day.  We  would  not, 
however,  in  drawing  this  picture,  fail  to  recognise  the  dis- 
tinguished Societies  which  abide  and  in  their  loyalty  sup- 
port the  general  Society,  not  only  in  its  work  of  meeting  the 
necessities  of  this  nation,  but  in  its  greater  work  of  minister- 
ing to  the  world.     The  Society  now  has  206  Auxiliaries. 

In  one  year,  namely  1909,  The  Massachusetts  Bible  So- 
ciety, the  Connecticut  Bible  Society  and  the  Bible  Society 
of  Maine  each  held  its  Centennial.  In  1912  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Bible  Society  had  its  Centennial.  In  1913  the  Rhode 
Island  Bible  Society  had  its  Centennial.  Earlier  in  its  or- 
ganisation than  any  of  these,  the  Pennsylvania  Bible  Society 
in  1908  celebrated  its  Centennial.  Certain  of  these  Societies 
are  not  Auxiliary  to  the  American  Bible  Society,  but  are 
intimate  and  effective  co-labourers.  In  two  or  three  in- 
stances the  Auxiliary  relationship  has  been  terminated. 
That  of  the  Connecticut  Bible  Society  in  1900  and  the  New 
York  Bible  Society  in  191 3.  Mention  should  also  be  made 
of  certain  illustrious  County  Societies  that  still  abide  in 
strength  as  those  in  Westchester,  Orange  and  Rockland 
Counties  in  New  York ;  Sussex,  Hunterdon,  Cumberland  and 
Somerset  Counties  in  New  Jersey. 

The  office  of  District  Superintendent  did  not  cease  alto- 
gether with  the  discontinuance  of  the  District  Superintend- 
ents in  1898.  The  Society  recognised  that  it  was  necessary 
that  it  should  have  some  representatives  in  the  field,  who 
could  visit  the  churches  and  assist  the  Corresponding  Secre- 
taries in  informing  the  people  as  to  the  importance  and  neces- 
sity of  its  work.  Two  of  the  District  Superintendents  were 
continued  as  Field  Agents,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  H.  Law  of 
Spartanburg,    South   Carolina,   and  the   Rev.   Dr.    George 


458  THE  AUXILIARY  SYSTEM  [1891- 

French  of  Morristown,  Tennessee.  Dr.  Law  was  a  member 
of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  and  Dr.  French  a 
Southern  Methodist.  To  these  there  were  added  three 
others  —  The  Rev.  Dr.  Henderson,  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  with  headquarters  in  Chicago ;  the  Rev.  Dr. 
John  Pearson  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church ;  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dickinson  of  St.  Paul,  Minne- 
sota, a  Congregationalist.  Two  other  officers  were  added  at 
this  time :  One,  a  Financial  Agent  for  Greater  New  York, 
the  Rev.  Frederick  D,  Greene,  the  son  of  a  veteran  mis- 
sionary of  the  American  Board  in  Turkey ;  and  the  Rev.  A. 
E.  Colton  for  Massachusetts,  by  an  arrangement  of  courtesy 
with  the  Massachusetts  Bible  Society.  Later  both  of  these 
gentlemen  became  Field  Agents,  and  for  a  number  of  years 
Mr.  Colton  throughout  all  New  England,  Mr.  Greene 
throughout  New  York  City  and  State,  Dr.  Law  in  the  South 
Atlantic  region,  Dr.  French  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  Dr. 
Pearson  and  Dr.  Henderson  throughout  the  Central  States, 
and  Dr.  Dickinson  in  the  Northwest,  visited  church  gather- 
ings, represented  the  Society  on  association  and  conference 
and  synod  platforms,  held  "  Bible  Days  "  in  all  the  more  im- 
portant centres  at  which  large  gatherings  of  people  were  at- 
tracted to  listen  to  papers  or  addresses  by  various  representa- 
tive ministers  on  "  The  Bible  in  the  Home,"  "  The  Bible  as 
a  Comfort  in  Sorrow,"  "  The  Bible  as  a  Support  for  Na- 
tional Ideals,"  etc.,  in  an  afternoon  session ;  and  then  in  the 
evening  to  the  presentation  of  the  general  cause,  showing 
the  needs  throughout  the  nation  and  in  the  great  mission 
lands.  Through  the  efiforts  of  one  of  these  workers,  Dr. 
Law,  a  Permanent  Committee  on  the  Bible  Cause  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States.  By  the  initiative  of  another.  Dr. 
French,  each  Annual  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  created  a  Bible  Board  to  represent  the  So- 
ciety at  District  gatherings. 

This  field-agency  plan,  however,  was  only  tentative,  and 
when  the  Board  of  Managers  recognised  that  the  work  of 
distribution  in  the  United  States  must  be  cared  for  by  the 
General  Society,  as  well  as  the  task  of  informing  and  edu- 


I9i6]  FIELD  AGENTS  RETnED  459 

eating  the  people  in  Bible  Society  matters,  and  the  new 
Home  Agencies  were  established,  the  office  of  Field  Agent 
ceased  to  exist.  In  1907  all  of  the  Field  Agents  were  re- 
tired and  this  chapter  in  the  Society's  work  concluded. 


CHAPTER  LI 

NEW   METHODS   AT   HOME 

Following  the  methods  that  had  proven  so  effective  in 
foreign  lands,  the  Society  determined  to  meet  the  needs  of 
this  country  by  estabHshing,  as  opportunities  might  open, 
large  agencies  covering  many  states.  It  was  expected  that 
the  agent  would  study  the  field  assigned  to  him,  present  an 
estimate  of  its  needs  to  the  Board  of  Managers,  and  under 
the  appropriation  given  him  carry  forward  the  work  of  the 
distribution  of  the  Scriptures  according  to  the  need.  This 
would  require  that  he  should  employ  a  staff  of  colporteurs 
and  arrange  with  correspondents  who  could  give  only  a  por- 
tion of  their  time  to  this  work  and  come  in  touch  with  all 
volunteer  distributors  wherever  he  could  discover  them. 
Each  agency  was  to  have  its  headquarters  to  which  books 
would  be  sent  from  the  Bible  House  in  New  York  and  from 
which  they  would  be  distributed  throughout  the  agent's  field. 
It  was  also  expected  that  these  new  representatives  of  the 
Society  would  carry  forward  the  function  of  the  field  agents 
in  visiting  preachers'  meetings,  conferences,  synods,  pres- 
byteries, associations  and  all  sorts  of  gatherings  wherever 
they  might  obtain  a  hearing.  It  was  believed  that  with  the 
story  of  work  accomplished  locally  they  would  be  given  a 
hearing  that  would  be  particularly  acceptable,  and  from  the 
description  of  local  work  they  could  very  easily  lead  their 
hearers  to  an  interest  in  the  world  activities  of  the  Society. 

The  special  Agency  among  the  Coloured  People  of  the 
South  had  proven  so  satisfactory  in  reaching  this  needy 
population  that  it  encouraged  the  Society  in  the  formation 
of  other  similar  agencies. 

In  November,  1906,  after  continued  conference  with  the 
Chicago  Bible  Society  that  organisation  became  the  nucleus 
of  the  new  Northwestern  Agency  which  included  the  states 
of  Illinois,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Iowa, 
Nebraska,  North  and  South  Dakota.     The  Secretary  of  the 

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1891-1916]         THE  HOME  AGENCIES  461 

Chicago  Bible  Society  was  appointed  as  the  Secretary  of 
the  new  Agency.  The  two  states  of  Dakota  which  were  in 
this  field  had  enjoyed  their  statehood  less  than  ten  years. 
Hundreds  of  thousands  of  new  citizens,  coming  through  the 
great  portal  at  New  York,  had  found  their  way  to  these  wide 
prairies.  Forty-three  languages  were  represented  in  the 
distribution  in  this  field.  The  Rev.  J.  F.  Horton,  the 
Agency  Secretary,  employed  nineteen  colporteurs  who,  taken 
together,  spoke  more  than  twenty  diflferent  languages.  One 
of  these  colporteurs,  an  Italian,  named  De  Luca,  found  an 
Italian  colony  at  Ladd,  Bureau  Co.,  111.,  interested  to  read 
the  Bible  in  their  own  language  and  he  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing a  night  school  for  Italians  in  connection  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  He  then  went  on  to  Spring  Valley 
where  he  found  similar  opportunities  for  instructing  the 
Italians,  and  the  Congregational  Church  there  asked  Mr. 
Horton  to  allow  Mr.  De  Luca  to  remain  for  some  months 
to  build  up  an  Italian  work  in  connection  with  that  church. 
A  successful  mission  was  soon  established  and  when  Mr.  De 
Luca  left  Spring  Valley,  after  five  months,  the  Presbyterian 
and  Congregational  Churches  had  permanent  Italian  Mis- 
sions with  Italian  missionaries  to  carry  on  the  work  in 
Bureau  and  adjacent  counties,  all  this  the  outgrowth  of  one 
Bible  Society  colporteur. 

In  January,  1907,  in  co-operation  with  the  Virginia  Bible 
Society,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  distinguished  of  the 
State  Societies,  the  South  Atlantic  Agency  was  organised, 
covering  the  states  of  Virginia,  West  Virginia,  North  and 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Florida.  The  Rev.  M.  B. 
Porter,  a  Southern  Presbyterian  minister  became  Agency 
Secretary  in  September  and  during  the  balance  of  that  year 
put  into  circulation  11,824  volumes. 

The  same  year,  the  Western  Agency  was  created  in  the 
vast  empire  embracing  Missouri,  Kansas,  Arizona,  Colorado, 
Idaho,  Montana,  Wyoming,  Utah  and  New  Mexico.  The 
Rev.  S.  H.  Kirkbride,  D.D.,  was  placed  in  charge  and  re- 
ported in  five  months  a  circulation  of  3,678  volumes.  His 
comment  was  only  too  true  a  statement  of  the  facts,  "  The 
Bible  Society  is  unknown  to  churches  and  people.  It  must 
be  put  on  the  map." 


462  NEW  METHODS  AT  HOME  [1891- 

On  the  Pacific  Coast  from  the  first  days  of  the  settle- 
ments there,  Bible  work  had  gone  forward  which  had  been 
organised  into  the  California  Bible  Society.  In  co-operation 
with  the  trustees  of  this  Society,  the  Pacific  Agency  was 
opened  late  in  1907.  Its  field  was  the  states  of  California, 
Nevada,  Oregon,  and  Washington.  The  Rev.  G.  A.  Miller, 
who  had  had  charge  of  the  work  in  the  Philippines  for  a 
year  or  two,  was  fortunately  in  California  and  became  the 
Agency  Secretary  temporarily.  He  reports,  ''  There  are 
more  Chinese,  Japanese  and  Koreans  in  this  field  than  in 
any  other  part  of  the  United  States  and  thousands  of  Mexi- 
cans, Portuguese  and  Italians." 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year  1907  another  Agency  cover- 
ing a  most  extended  region,  was  organised  in  the  Southwest, 
with  headquarters  at  Dallas,  Texas.  The  states  of  Louisi- 
ana, Arkansas,  Texas,  and  Oklahoma,  "  the  Beautiful  Land  " 
which  had  been  purchased  by  the  government  from  the  In- 
dians and  opened  to  settlement  less  than  ten  years,  formed 
this  new  field.  Here  were  large  Spanish  speaking  popula- 
tions and  those  who  used  French  and  Italian.  The  Indian 
dialects  were  still  in  use  in  Oklahoma.  The  Rev.  Glenn 
Flinn,  a  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
was  made  the  Agency  Secretary. 

In  the  following  year  the  Eastern  Agency  was  organised 
to  minister  to  New  York  State  and  adjacent  states  where 
the  field  was  not  supplied  by  Auxiliary  Bible  Societies. 
The  Rev.  W.  S.  Elliott,  at  home  on  furlough  from  his  sub- 
agency  in  China,  was  appointed  Agency  Secretary. 

The  Central  Agency,  covering  the  states  of  Ohio,  Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee,  Mississippi,  and  Alabama,  with  head- 
quarters in  Cincinnati,  was  organised  in  co-operation  with 
the  Young  Men's  Bible  Society  of  Cincinnati,  in  1909,  and 
the  Rev.  George  S.  J.  Browne,  D.D.,  was  appointed  Agency 
Secretary. 

On  the  2nd  of  December,  1909,  in  co-operation  with 
the  Pennsylvania  Bible  Society,  the  oldest  of  the  existing 
Bible  Societies,  the  Atlantic  Agency  was  established,  em- 
bracing the  states  of  Pennsylvania,  Delaware  and  New  Jer- 
sey. The  Rev.  Leighton  W.  Eckard,  D.D.,  Secretary  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Bible  Society,  became  the  Agency  Secretary. 


I9i6]  IMMIGRATION  PROBLEMS  463 

In  1910  the  Rev.  S.  H.  Kirkbride,  D.D.,  was  transferred 
from  the  Western  Agency  to  the  Northwestern  Agency  to 
take  the  place  of  Mr.  Horton,  resigned ;  and  the  Rev.  George 
E.  Farnam,  a  Congregational  minister,  was  appointed  Secre- 
tary of  the  Western  Agency. 

The  Brooklyn  Bible  Society,  in  1910,  became  a  part  of 
the  Eastern  Agency,  and  its  General  Secretary,  Rev.  W.  H. 
Hendrickson,  was  appointed  Agency  Secretary,  Rev.  Mr. 
Elliott  having  gone  back  to  China.  That  same  year  Mr. 
Flinn  resigned  to  enter  the  pastorate  in  Texas,  and  the  Rev. 
J.  J.  Morgan,  formerly  the  President  of  Wesley  College, 
Terrell,  Texas,  was  appointed  in  his  place. 

On  the  Pacific  coast,  the  Rev.  A.  Wesley  Mell,  who  had 
had  charge  of  the  English-speaking  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  Bombay,  India,  became  Secretary  in  1908. 

Mr.  Farnam,  of  the  Western  Agency,  died  November  2, 
1912,  and  on  the  first  of  April,  1913,  the  Rev.  Arthur  F. 
Ragatz,  D.D.,  was  appointed  Secretary. 

The  Rev.  W.  H.  Tower  succeeded  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hendrick- 
son in  charge  of  the  Eastern  Agency  in  191 1. 

This  is  the  outline  of  the  organisation  of  these  nine  (9) 
Home  Agencies. 

Peculiar  conditions  prevailed  in  the  United  States  at  this 
time  owing  to  the  unexampled  increase  in  immigration  and 
the  character  of  it.  A  student  of  these  problems  has  said, 
"  A  striking  fact  is  the  close  sympathy  between  immigration 
and  the  industrial  prosperity  and  depression  of  this  country. 
Indeed,  so  close  is  the  connection  that  many  who  comment 
on  this  matter  have  held  that  immigration  during  the  past 
century  has  been  strictly  an  industrial  or  economic  phenome- 
non, and  that  the  religious  and  political  causes  which  stimu- 
lated early  immigration  no  longer  held  good."  ^  We  think 
there  are  very  great  exceptions  to  this  fact,  however  true  it 
may  be  as  a  general  proposition. 

"  Between  1820  and  1906,"  the  latter  date  being  about  the 
time  of  the  creation  of  the  Home  Agencies,  he  goes  on  to 
say,  "  there  entered  our  ports  more  than  5,200,000  Germans, 
while  Ireland  was  sending  4,000,000.     Beside  the  Germans 

1 "  Races  and  Immigrants  in  America,"  by  John  R.  Commons, 
pages  67  and  69  and  70, 


464  NEW  METHODS  AT  HOME  [1891- 

and  the  Irish,  the  largest  numbers  of  immigrants  during  the 
middle  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  were  English  and 
Scandinavians.  About  this  period,  however,  a  great  change 
occurred.  In  1882,  Western  Europe  furnished  80%  of 
the  immigrants  and  in  1902  only  22%,  while  the  share  of 
Southeastern  Europe  and  Asiatic  Turkey  increased  from 
13%  in  1882  to  78%  in  1902.  During  twenty  years  the 
immigration  of  Western  races  most  nearly  related  to  those 
which  fashioned  American  institutions  declined  more  than 
75%,  while  the  immigration  of  Eastern  and  Southern  races, 
untrained  in  self-government,  increased  nearly  six  fold. 
For  the  year  1906  the  proportions  remain  the  same,  although 
in  the  four  years  the  total  immigration  had  increased  two- 
thirds." 

By  1909,  the  immigration  records  show  that  more  than 
6,000,000  immigrants  had  come  to  the  United  States  in  the 
preceding  seven  years,  the  vast  majority  never  trained  to 
read  the  Bible. 

New  languages  became  familiar  on  the  streets  of  our 
great  cities,  but  there  were  no  Scriptures  in  these  languages 
in  the  Bible  House.  In  June,  1907,  however,  the  Rev.  R.  M. 
De  Castello,  who  had  been  in  the  service  of  the  Society  in 
the  Northwestern  Agency,  was  sent  to  visit  all  these  Euro- 
pean countries  from  which  these  "  new  citizens  "  had  come, 
to  see  what  publishing  houses  there  were  that  could  publish 
Scriptures  for  the  Society  and  at  what  prices ;  what  it 
would  cost  to  buy  plates;  to  see  if  there  were  Bibles  in 
European  languages  about  which  the  Society  did  not  know, 
and  to  find  out  about  all  places  where  the  different  Bibles 
were  published,  especially  in  the  Southern  languages.  Mr. 
De  Castello  went  thoroughly  over  the  field  and  presented  a 
long  and  elaborate  report.  Upon  the  basis  of  this  report 
the  Society  entered  into  negotiations  with  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  and  their  European  Agencies  wdth 
German  and  other  Bible  Societies,  and  so  developed  its 
importations  that  where  it  had  been  carr}ang  on  its  list 
thirty  of  these  European  languages,  it  now  has  in  its  deposi- 
tory and  distributed  throughout  its  Home  Agencies  all  over 
the  Republic,  the  Scriptures  in  forty-two  European  lan- 
guages.    Counting  with  these  the  American  Indian  and  Far 


igi6]       PROBLEM  OF  ALIEN  SPEECH  465 

Eastern  and  other  dialects  and  tongues,  the  total  circula- 
tion of  the  Society  at  the  close  of  its  one  hundred  years 
embraces  ninety-two  languages  in  the  United  States  alone. 
Little  could  the  fathers  have  foreseen  such  a  polyglot  circu- 
lation in  this  country. 

Nearly  all  of  the  Home  Agencies  are  caring  for  this  prob- 
lem, though  the  language  distribution  differs  a  little  in  each. 
The  problem  of  Home  Missions  within  the  last  decade  has 
been  the  problem  of  contact  with  these  peoples  of  strange 
speech.  The  Bible  Society  has  helped  to  solve  this  problem. 
C)f  the  thirty-four  colporteurs  employed  in  the  Northwest- 
ern Agency  in  the  year  1909,  thirty-one  were  assigned  to 
duty  among  the  people  of  foreign  speech.  These  spoke 
twenty-four  languages  and  were  able  to  sell  Bibles  in  forty 
languages.  Twenty  flourishing  missions  belonging  to  differ- 
ent denominations  had  sprung  up  in  this  territory  all  directly 
the  result  of  colporteur  work. 

In  the  South  Atlantic  Agency,  in  old  Virginia  and  the 
neighbouring  states,  Scriptures  were  circulated  in  thirty-four 
foreign  languages. 

In  the  Western  Agency  eleven  colporteurs  gave  their 
time  exclusively  to  immigrants. 

In  California  sixty-five  nationalities  were  encountered, 
even  Hindus  coming  by  the  hundreds,  and  Scriptures  in 
Bengali  and  Urdu  and  Hindi,  never  before  required  in  the 
United  States,  were  added  to  the  catalogue  of  the  American 
Bible  Society. 

In  the  Atlantic  Agency  one  of  the  colporteurs  spoke  seven 
languages  and  another  five.  One  of  these  was  shot  and 
seriously  injured  by  a  Russian  who  thought  he  was  doing 
God's  service.  Another  was  knocked  down  and  left  sense- 
less by  a  blow  from  a  club  wielded  by  a  Roman  Catholic 
who  thought  it  necessary  to  prevent  Bible  distribution. 

In  the  Southwestern  Agency  Scriptures  are  distributed 
in  forty-two  languages  and  the  colporteurs  speak  seventeen 
different  languages. 

Quietly  and  efficiently  the  seed  of  the  Kingdom  is  being 
sown  in  these  new  homes  and  the  way  opened  for  new 
churches.  If  the  great  revival  was  necessary  to  save  Eng- 
land in  the  eighteenth  century,  a  great  spiritual  awakening 


466  NEW  METHODS  AT  HOME  [1891- 

among  these  new  members  of  the  family  in  this  nation  is 
necessary  in  this  twentieth  century  to  create  a  homogeneous 
God  loving  people. 

It  is  a  fact,  however,  that  the  colporteur  traversing  the 
rural  regions  of  this  country  has  found  an  extraordinary 
number  of  homes  of  people,  of  what  we  call  the  old  American 
stock,  who  have  utterly  neglected  religious  worship  and  who 
have  no  Bibles  in  their  homes.  Some  of  the  reports  of  our 
Home  Agencies  would  make  Samuel  Mills  astonished  as 
they  describe  the  destitution  of  the  Scriptures  found  in  our 
great  cities,  in  country  communities  and  the  lonely  cabins 
of  the  new  settlements.  In  the  Central  Agency  in  one  year 
3,169  homes  were  found  without  Bibles  or  Testaments.  In 
the  Ozark  Mountains  of  North  Arkansas  at  least  half  of 
the  families  visited  in  1909  were  found  without  the  Bible. 
The  Secretary  reports  that  between  30  and  40%  of  the 
English-speaking  people  in  certain  of  his  fields  in  the 
Southwest  were  in  the  same  condition.  The  same  year 
in  Western  Oregon  900  towns  and  villages  were  found  with- 
out religious  services  and  the  majority  of  the  homes  with- 
out the  Bible.  In  the  Northwestern  Agency  in  the  follow- 
ing year  11,100  homes  were  found  without  the  Scriptures, 
and  a  colporteur  writes :  "  I  have  seen  a  lot  of  this  world, 
but  I  have  never  seen  the  need  of  God's  Word  in  the  homes 
of  the  American  people  as  I  now  do.  I  never  would  have 
believed  that  Christian  America  had  so  many  homes  with- 
out God's  Word  as  I  find  in  this  region."  In  the  Eastern 
Agency  similar  conditions  prevail.  One  of  the  most  pic- 
turesque features  of  its  service  is  among  the  throngs  of 
merry-makers  of  all  nations  and  races  crowding  the  sands 
at  Coney  Island  in  the  summer  time. 

During  the  years  since  the  establishment  of  these 
Agencies,  the  circulation  has  increased  phenomenally.  Dr. 
Wragg  among  the  coloured  people,  during  fourteen  years 
has  circulated  44,123  volumes.  Just  what  this  means  may 
be  illustrated  by  one  incident  where  one  of  these  colporteurs 
among  the  coloured  people  met  with  a  woman  who  had  a 
Bible  that  she  said  she  would  not  part  with  for  all  the  Bibles 
he  had.  He  says,  '*  I  saw  it  was  one  of  our  50-cent  Bibles. 
So  I  said  to  her,  *  that  is  only  a  cheap  Bible.'     She  said, 


I9i6]  HOW  THE  BIBLE  WORKS  467 

*  Yes,  but  I  would  not  take  $25  for  it.  I  know  it  is  a  cheap 
binding,  but  a  man  brought  it  to  my  door  when  my  husband 
was  very  sick  and  we  bought  it  and  he  read  it  through.  He 
was  converted  before  he  died.  I  would  not  part  with  this 
blessed  book.' " 

This  is  the  story  all  over  this  Republic. 

In  Texas  one  colporteur  met  an  old  Bohemian.  He  was 
without  the  Bible  and  had  taught  all  his  children  that  there 
is  no  God.  Moreover,  he  had  suffered  in  his  children  the 
evil  results  of  such  teaching.  When  he  heard  the  colporteur 
tell  of  the  Bible,  he  said  to  him,  with  deep  feeling :  "  Oh, 
my  son,  go  to  all  the  world  and  tell  all  men  that  we  have  a 
living  God  who  rewards  right  and  punishes  sin.  I  wish  that 
all  men  might  read  this  book  of  God !  "  In  contrast  to  this 
glad  acceptance  of  the  Bible  was  an  example  of  the  bitter 
fruit  of  life  without  it.  In  the  same  state  another  colpor- 
teur met  two  Bohemian  farmers  who  said :  "  The  Bible 
points  to  heaven.  It  is  far  off.  We  prefer  to  go  to  hell 
which  is  nearer." 

At  a  County  Fair,  in  the  Eastern  Agency,  a  colporteur 
opened  a  Testament  to  the  words,  '^  The  wages  of  sin  is 
death,"  and  showed  it  to  a  young  man.  "  What  kind  of 
business  is  this  ?  "  he  asked.  It  was  explained  to  him  what 
sort  of  business  it  was,  and  the  meaning  of  the  text,  when 
he  responded,  "  I  had  a  mother  once  who  read  and  believed 
the  Bible,  but  I  have  wandered  far  from  her  teachings." 
Then  he  told  how  he  had  come  to  the  fair  "  to  have  a  big 
bust  and  go  the  limit."  But  after  a  little  further  conversa- 
tion he  said  he  guessed  he  would  go  home  and  find  mother's 
Bible  and  see  if  there  was  any  way  by  which  he  might  escape 
*'  the  wages  of  sin." 

All  sorts  of  excuses  are  brought  up  to  the  colporteur  re- 
vealing the  thoughts  that  go  through  the  minds  of  the  people 
of  this  country.  Here  are  a  few  samples :  "  No  money." 
"  Bibles  are  only  for  Christians."  A  Socialist  said,  "  No 
church,  no  Bible  for  me."  One  woman  would  not  buy  one 
because  she  **  swore  too  much."  One  coloured  person  said 
"  It  is  the  white  man's  book."  "  I  don't  believe  in  the 
Protestant  Bible."  "  The  Bible  makes  me  feel  my  sins  too 
much."     "  I  will  put  my  money  into  a  good  time  instead  of 


468  NEW  METHODS  AT  HOME  [1891- 

a  Bible."  "  My  priest  would  take  it  away,  as  he  did  my 
other  one,  and  excommunicate  me."  "  My  priest  says  your 
book  is  a  bad  book."  In  contrast  to  these  it  was  refreshing 
to  read  of  one  poor  man  who  bought  a  book  saying,  "  I  have 
absolutely  nothing  in  this  world,  and  the  Bible  promises  a 
new  heaven  and  a  new  earth." 

The  gross  materialism  of  some  of  the  people  is  unbeliev- 
able. When  a  Croatian  was  asked  by  a  colporteur  about 
his  God,  taking  a  quarter  out  of  his  pocket  he  said,  "  That 
is  my  god  !  "  An  Italian  opening  an  oven  door  and  pointing 
to  a  cooking  roast  of  meat  said,  ''  This  is  my  only  book !  " 
These  people  are  breaking  with  their  state  churches.  So- 
cialistic workers  are  constantly  among  them.  Some  one 
must  go  to  them  with  the  open  Bible  and  the  real  teachings 
of  Jesus. 

Humorous  things  happen  here  and  there  that  show  that 
some  homes  have  been  familiar  with  the  Bible.  One  of  our 
workers  found  a  family  where  there  were  two  children, 
named  ''  Alpha  "  and  "  Omega,"  but  they  were  neither  the 
first  nor  the  last.  The  mother  simply  liked  the  names  be- 
cause they  were  Bible  names ! 

Many  Roman  Catholics  love  the  Bible,  in  spite  of  the 
opposition  of  their  priests.  One  woman  said,  '*  I  cannot 
help  it  if  the  priest  will  not  bless  it.  The  reading  of  this 
Book  makes  me  feel  good  in  my  soul."  Polish  priests  espe- 
cially refuse  to  allow  their  people  to  read  any  Bible.  One 
woman  was  ordered  by  her  priest  to  burn  the  two  Testaments 
she  had.  The  priest  told  her  "  If  she  read  the  Bible,  she 
would  get  too  smart  and  would  get  like  God." 

The  power  of  it  all  is  revealed  in  the  following  experi- 
ence :  '*  One  young  German  woman  invited  me  very  kindly 
to  her  home.  When  she  found  out  that  I  sold  Bibles  she 
said:  *  Oh,  what  a  wonderful  book  this  is  —  every  letter 
is  golden.  I  received  a  Bible  as  a  present,  but  did  not  read 
it  for  a  long  time.  Once  when  I  started  to  read  the  Lord 
appeared  to  me  and  opened  my  eyes  and  heart  and  I  found 
out  what  a  big  sinner  I  was.  Since  I  read  the  Bible  I  am  a 
new  creature ;  all  is  diflferent  with  me.  I  have  five  little 
children,  but  the  Lord  strengthens  me  every  day  with  new 
power/  " 


I9i6]  SPREADING  THE  LIGHT  469 

These  are  but  fragments  from  the  daily  life  of  a  company 
of  over  five  hundred  workers  threading  their  way  through 
the  streets  of  our  great  cities,  journeying  out  on  the  far 
prairies,  sleeping  by  the  wayside,  living  humbly,  and  yet 
carrying  the  Light  into  the  dark  places  of  this  land. 

In  the  year  closing  December  31,  1916,  1,185,297  volumes 
of  Scriptures  were  distributed  through  the  instrumentality 
of  these  Home  Agencies.  This  is  not  by  any  means  the 
total  distribution  of  the  Society  in  the  United  States,  but  it 
shows  the  effectiveness  of  this  new  instrument  in  its  service. 


CHAPTER  LII 

LATIN    AMERICA 

The  migrations  of  peoples  over  the  face  of  the  earth  in 
general  follow  the  apparent  path  of  the  sun.  Not  univer- 
sally but  with  remarkable  frequency  they  are  from  East  to 
West.  Whatever  may  be  the  theory  as  to  the  location  of 
the  Garden  of  Eden,  and  even  if  the  original  movements  of 
the  human  race  were  from  the  North  to  the  South,  for  many 
centuries  it  is  indisputably  the  fact  that  the  people  seeking 
new  homes  have  journeyed  toward  the  sunset. 

It  is  not  strange  then  that  the  South  American  Republics 
have  felt  the  influence  of  Southern  Europe  more  than  that 
of  North  America  or  Northern  Europe.  The  Spanish  con- 
quistadores  opened  up  these  new  lands  for  gold  and  the 
Cross,  and  the  Portuguese  adventurers  had  the  same  pur- 
pose, and  in  the  opening  of  the  last  quarter  of  the  Society's 
century,  these  Latin-American  lands  are  noticeably  the  prod- 
uct of  the  old  Mediterranean  civilisations  of  Europe.  The 
new  environment  and  the  example  of  the  great  Republic  have 
had  their  influence  and  all  of  them,  with  slight  exceptions, 
have  broken  off  their  allegiance  to  European  countries  and 
have  become  independent  republics.  But  their  social  life, 
their  language  and  their  religious  ideals  are  permeated  with 
the  spirit  of  the  old  world.  At  the  beginning  of  this  period, 
the  American  Bible  Society  is  established  permanently  in 
Mexico,  Central  America,  Venezuela  and  Colombia,  Brazil, 
and  in  all  the  rest  of  South  America,  which  it  entitles  the 
"  La  Plata  Agency "  from  the  great  river  that  waters  so 
many  of  the  nations  included  in  this  field. 

The  West  Indies  have  also  long  been  a  field  for  the 
Society's  labours.  Wars,  revolutions  and  the  difficulties  of 
transportation  have  made  constant  changes  in  the  handling 
of  the  West  Indies.  At  one  time  Cuba  was  a  separate  field, 
at  another  Porto  Rico,  at  another  these  islands  were  grouped 
and  together  with  them,  San  Domingo,  Hayti  and  the  French 

470 


1891-1916]  CAPRICIOUS  MEXICO  471 

Islands.  Again  Porto  Rico  is  added  to  Venezuela  because 
local  lines  of  steamships  make  communication  more  conveni- 
ent. It  would  be  unprofitable  to  give  the  detail  of  all  these 
changes.  Most  recently  it  has  been  found  desirable  to  ad- 
minister the  whole  region  from  New  York  City  because, 
strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  agent  could  more  quickly  travel 
from  Cuba  to  San  Domingo  or  even  from  Cuba  to  Porto 
Rico  by  way  of  New  York  than  directly. 

The  last  year  of  record  shows  the  high  water  mark  of 
over  33,000  volumes.^ 

Mexico  continued  to  be  an  open  field  for  the  Society's 
work.  It  was  remarkable  the  number  of  places  in  Mexico 
where  the  people  were  ready  to  be  organised  into  churches 
originating  in  Bible  distribution.  The  proportion  of  sales 
to  donations  increased  every  year  and  the  construction  of 
new  railroads  facilitated  the  transportation  of  the  books. 
In  spite  of  the  liberality  of  the  government  intense  fanati- 
cism reigned  in  certain  sections.  Perhaps  the  climax  was 
reached  in  the  announcement  of  one  Mexican  priest  that 
"  He  who  kills  a  Protestant  will  not  have  to  go  through 
purgatory."  More  than  once  our  colporteurs  fell  into  the 
hands  of  bandits,  who  stole  their  mules  from  them  and  all 
their  books.  They  were  shot  at,  they  were  tumbled  down 
precipices  and  left  for  dead,  but  they  kept  on,  the  agent 
reporting  real  eagerness  on  the  part  of  many  people  in 
Mexico  to  own  a  Bible. 

After  the  war  with  Spain,  when  the  friars  were  driven 

1  Rev.  A.  J.  McKim  resigned  in  Cuba  in  1894  and  was  appointed 
to  Porto  Rico  in  December,  1898.  Rev.  F.  G.  Penzotti  administered 
in  Cuba  in  1899.  Rev.  J.  M.  Lopez-Guillen  was  appointed  agent  in 
1900.  Secretary  Fox  visited  the  islands  in  1901.  Rev.  Dr.  Donald 
McLaren  took  charge  of  Porto  Rico,  January,  1902.  Mr.  Joseph 
Lamb  followed  Dr.  McLaren  in  1904.  Rev.  J.  M.  Lopez-Guillen 
retired  1905  and  Mr.  Lamb  resigned.  Rev.  Dr.  McLaren  took 
charge  of  both  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  1906.  Rev.  Pedro  Rioseco 
followed  Dr.  McLaren  in  Cuba  and  Mr.  Bailly  of  Venezuela  cared 
for  Porto  Rico.  Rev.  W.  F.  Jordan  succeeded  Mr.  Rioseco  in 
October,  1908.  In  1909  Rev.  H.  C.  Thompson  had  charge  of  Porto 
Rico.  Later  Mr.  Jordan  superintended  the  whole  field  including 
San  Domingo,  Hayti,  Martinique,  and  Guadeloupe,  assisted  by  Mr. 
Williams  and  Mr.  Neblitt  in  Cuba,  and  Fernand  Cattelain  in  Hayti. 
Rev.  David  Cole  later  took  Mr.  Neblitt's  place  in  Cuba,  Rev.  E.  L. 
Humphrey  assisting. 


472  LATIN  AMERICA  [1891- 

out  from  the  Philippines,  they  came  and  settled  on  the  west 
coast  of  Mexico,  stirring  up  new  fires  of  opposition. 

August  20,  1905,  Rev.  Hiram  P.  Hamilton  died.  From 
the  time  of  his  leaving  the  Theological  Seminary,  for  more 
than  twenty-six  years,  his  entire  ministry  had  been  given  to 
this  work  of  circulating  the  Scriptures  in  Mexico.  Twenty 
to  thirty  Mexican  colporteurs  looked  up  unto  him  as  a  father 
in  the  gospel.  He  knew  all  their  movements  over  the  moun- 
tains and  into  the  valleys  of  all  the  different  states  in  that 
Republic.  During  the  last  few  years  of  his  life  his  wife 
had  assisted  him  in  the  care  of  the  Agency  and  was  pecu- 
liarly well  qualified  for  its  management. 

Secretary  Haven  visited  the  field  in  the  winter  of  1906 
and  found  that  it  would  be  agreeable  to  the  missionary  body 
if  Mrs.  Hamilton  was  appointed  agent  to  succeed  her  hus- 
band. No  woman  had  ever  before  been  placed  in  charge  of 
an  agency  of  any  of  the  Bible  Societies,  but  Mrs.  Hamilton's 
perfect  knowledge  of  the  language,  her  sympathetic  acquaint- 
ance with  all  the  colporteurs  and  their  families  and  their 
needs,  her  standing  in  the  missionary  body  and  her  business 
ability  all  caused  the  Board  of  Managers  to  place  her  perma- 
nently in  charge  of  this  field.  Faithfully  she  administered 
her  trust.  Over  her  desk  in  her  office  in  Mexico  City  hung 
a  large  map  of  the  Republic.  On  it  were  little  marks  show- 
ing the  position  of  every  one  of  her  colporteurs.  As  they 
moved  from  place  to  place,  these  marks  were  changed,  and 
daily  by  name  she  followed  these  heroes  of  the  faith  in 
prayer  that  they  might  be  given  courage  and  patience  for 
their  work.  She  travelled  over  the  Republic,  visiting  the 
missionary  gatherings.  As  the  Centennial  of  the  Mexican 
Republic  approached  a  special  edition  of  the  Four  Gospels 
and  the  Book  of  Proverbs  was  prepared  in  paper  covers 
bearing  the  Mexican  colours.  Sixty-six  thousand  of  these 
little  volumes  were  circulated  in  that  year,  which,  added  to 
the  23,328  volumes  of  the  normal  circulation,  brought  the 
total  up  to  86,610  volumes. 

Then  followed,  after  this  brilliant  day,  the  night!  Diaz 
was  overthrown.  Madero  came  to  the  Presidency  —  and  we 
need  not  tell  the  story  of  calamity  of  these  last  years.  It 
all  wore  upon  Mrs.  Hamilton.     Again  and  again  the  Board 


I9i6]  MEXICO  AND  BRAZIL  473 

of  Managers  asked  her  to  withdraw,  and  at  last,  finally 
commanded  her  to  leave  Mexico,  which  she  did  in  April, 

1914.  Through  all  the  fiercest  fighting  in  the  city,  even 
when  the  flying  bullets  stirred  the  skirt  of  her  gown,  as  she 
sat  at  work  in  her  home,  she  did  not  lose  her  nerve.  Her 
heart  was  with  the  Mexican  people  and  of  a  broken  heart 
she  died,  suddenly,  at  the  Bible  House,  on  the  5th  of  June, 

191 5.  A  rare  and  precious  spirit,  sincerely  loved  and  widely 
mourned  throughout  all  the  Christian  communities  of  the 
Republic. 

The  Society  was  fortunate  in  having  at  hand  one  used  to 
difficulties  and  successful  in  overcoming  them,  and  in  De- 
cember, 1914,  it  requested  the  Rev.  W.  F.  Jordan  to  do  what 
he  could  for  Mexico  in  addition  to  his  care  of  the  West 
Indies  Agency.  In  spite  of  all  the  turmoil  he  reports  dur- 
ing the  last  year  of  the  Society's  Centennial  a  circulation  of 
68,818  volumes  in  that  troubled  land,  making  a  grand  total 
of  919,223  Scriptures,  as  the  circulation  of  the  Society  in 
Mexico. 

Three  brief  facts  concerning  versions  should  be  men- 
tioned. In  1905  a  Spanish  Gospel  of  St.  John  in  Braille 
type  for  the  blind  was  published  by  the  Society.  The  type 
was  set  by  a  blind  woman  in  Mexico.  In  1912  the  Gospel  of 
St.  John  was  published  in  Zapotec  for  the  Indians  of  South- 
em  Mexico.  The  movement  for  the  revision  of  the  Spanish 
Scriptures,  to  which  fuller  reference  will  be  made,  also  took 
its  rise  in  Mexico,  in  a  missionary  conference  in  1897. 

In  1894  the  Brazilian  State  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul  was 
transferred  from  the  La  Plata  to  the  Brazil  Agency.  The 
year  before  there  were  larger  sales  in  Brazil  than  in  any 
previous  time  in  the  history  of  the  agency.  This  year  rev- 
olutionary movements  limited  colportage,  and,  curiously 
enough,  the  largest  sales  were  to  Italians.  A  Bible  sales- 
room was  opened  in  the  centre  of  Rio  Janeiro.  Out  of  the 
twenty  states  of  the  Republic  of  Brazil,  it  was  possible  two 
years  later  to  report  that  nineteen  (19)  had  been  entered  by 
the  Society.  The  circulation  at  the  close  of  1897  amounted 
to  40,195  volumes,  the  larger  portion  was  handled  by  mis- 
sionary correspondents.  The  same  flaming  out  of  fanati- 
cism of  the  friars  who  were  expelled  from  the  Philippines 


474  LATIN  AMERICA  [1891- 

that  we  have  noted  in  Mexico  appears  also  in  Brazil,  where 
these  newcomers  particularly  opposed  Bible  distribution. 
As  the  Bible  entered  their  land,  as  recorded  in  our  Philippine 
story,  they  are  entering  other  lands  to  attempt  to  arrest  its 
progress.  The  result  of  it  all,  however,  appeared  to  be  an 
increase  in  Bible  readers,  for  the  circulation  in  1902 
amounted  to  70,113  volumes. 

Brazil  is  laid  out  in  states  like  a  checker  board.  In 
order  to  avoid  undue  rivalry  and  competition,  an  arrange- 
ment was  entered  into  between  the  agent  of  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  and  Mr.  Tucker,  the  agent  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,  for  a  division  of  this  territory  and 
on  the  plan  of  each  Society  taking  three  or  four  states  adja- 
cent to  each  other,  arranged  curiously  like  the  knight's  move 
on  the  chess  board.  In  this  way  the  larger  settled  portion 
of  the  Republic  was  so  adjusted  between  the  two  Societies 
as  to  make  large  colportage  districts  in  touch  with  each  other 
and  yet  give  each  Society  a  separate  field.  Almost  as  the 
result  of  this  economy  of  energy  Mr.  Tucker  toured  a  thou- 
sand miles  into  the  interior  to  see  that  no  territory  was  left 
without  investigation.  In  1894  the  missionaries  in  Brazil 
united  in  urging  the  need  of  a  revised  Portuguese  Bible. 
Later  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  brought  out  an 
improved  edition  to  which  the  American  Bible  Society  de- 
cided to  conform  its  version,  but  this  was  not  satisfactory, 
and  in  1901  a  committee  for  thoroughly  revising  the  Portu- 
guese version  was  formed.  The  expenses  of  this  commit- 
tee, and  the  expense  of  the  publication  of  the  version  were 
arranged  for  by  the  American  Bible  Society  and  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society  conjointly.  In  1903  two  Gos- 
pels were  published  for  criticism.  In  19 10  the  final  revision 
of  the  New  Testament  was  printed  and  ready  for  circulation 
on  the  field  and  steady  progress  is  now  being  made  in  the 
revision  of  the  Old  Testament.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that 
during  the  early  part  of  this  revision  work  the  Roman 
Catholic  Congress  at  Bahia,  Brazil,  decided  to  issue  New 
Testament  Portions  for  the  common  people,  and  we  are 
happy  to  record  that  in  1908  the  Archbishop  of  Rio  exhorted 
his  people  to  study  the  Gospels,  and  in  his  address  speaks  of 
"  Our   separated   brethren,   the   Protestants."     Two   years 


I9i6]  POWER  OF  THE  BIBLE  475 

previous  to  this  the  Hon.  EHhu  Root  made  a  visit  to  Brazil 
in  his  journey  about  South  America  which  very  profoundly 
impressed  the  Brazilian  people.  Missions  are  extending 
their  work  into  the  interior  and  many  people  enlightened 
and  converted  through  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  are 
being  discovered  as  these  missionaries  follow  the  trail  of 
the  colporteur. 

The  almost  universal  story  as  to  the  relation  between  the 
circulation  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  beginnings  of  new 
churches  formed  of  groups  of  believers  who  have  never  seen 
or  heard  a  missionary  is  as  true  in  all  the  great  states  form- 
ing the  La  Plata  Agency  as  in  Mexico  or  Brazil,  or  for  that 
matter  in  the  heathen  world.  Any  one  at  all  skeptical  as 
to  the  divine  power  of  the  Bible  would  find  his  skepticism 
utterly  dissipated  after  listening  to  the  actual  records  in  the 
correspondence  of  the  Society  of  minds  illuminated  and 
natures  quickened  and  whole  neighbourhoods  changed  by  the 
influence  of  the  Spirit  upon  humble  people  reading  by  them- 
selves or  together  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

Mr.  Milne,  of  the  La  Plata  Agency,  in  1891,  writes  that 
he  could  mention  immediately  half  a  dozen  churches  in  that 
field  which  had  originated  with  the  work  of  Bible  colpor- 
teurs. The  following  year  he  intensifies  this  statement  by 
saying  that  in  his  field  fifty  places  of  worship  were  opened 
by  colportage,  seven  of  the  ministers  having  formerly  been 
the  Society's  colporteurs.  In  1905  he  visited  Punta  Arenas 
on  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  Many  years  before  a  humble 
colporteur  stopped  at  this  spot  with  a  few  Bibles;  subse- 
quently a  church  of  47  members  was  started.  At  this 
visit  289  church  members  welcomed  Mr.  Milne  and  one  of 
his  former  colporteurs  was  the  pastor. 

Before  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century  Ecuador  adopted 
a  new  constitution  giving  liberty  of  worship,  and  all  restric- 
tions of  the  sale  of  Bibles  were  done  away.  Even  in  Peru 
at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Milne,  obstacles  interposed  by  the 
Custom  House  at  Callao  against  the  importation  of  Bibles, 
were  removed,  and  yet  only  three  or  four  years  before  one 
of  our  colporteurs  in  Ayachucho  was  attacked  by  a  mob 
of  infuriated  Indians  led  by  monks  and  priests  and  he  had 
to  escape  by  the  roof,  the  mob  contenting  itself  by  taking  his 


476  LATIN  AMERICA  [1891- 

clothes  and  his  box  of  Bibles  and  burning  them  in  the  public 
plaza. 

In  this  period,  by  arrangement  with  the  Valparaiso  Bible 
Society,  Chile  was  added  to  the  field  of  the  La  Plata  Agency. 
In  1902  even  Bolivia,  hitherto  closed  against  Bible  distribu- 
tion, now  under  more  liberal  laws,  became  accessible  to  col- 
porteurs who  obtained  permits  from  the  government. 

The  year  1903  is  a  notable  one,  as  it  is  the  fortieth  year 
of  Mr.  Milne's  service  for  the  Society.  During  this  time  he 
has  seen  the  work  of  the  Agency  established  from  the  Equa- 
tor to  Cape  Horn.  He  has  had  the  privilege  of  directing  the 
circulation  of  over  700,000  copies  of  the  Scriptures.  The 
very  oldest  copy  of  the  Spanish  Scriptures  that  he  ever  met 
with  in  South  America,  he  says,  ''  is  the  New  Testament  of 
the  American  Bible  Society  of  1819,"  published  three  years 
after  the  founding  of  the  Society. 

The  great  desires  of  his  heart  have  been  answered. 
Everywhere  the  field  is  open.  New  missionaries  have  been 
coming  to  organise  and  develop  the  new  churches  of  these 
lands.  The  government  imposts  and  Custom  House  bur- 
dens have  been  removed,  a  new  and  attractive  sales  room  has 
been  opened  on  one  of  the  central  streets  in  Buenos  Aires, 
and  best  of  all,  a  gifted  lady,  Madam  Clorinda  Matto  de 
Turner,  has  undertaken  to  translate  the  Gospels  into  the 
language  of  the  Quechua  Indians.  The  ignorance  and 
superstition  and  need  of  these  Indian  tribes  in  Peru,  and 
Ecuador,  and  Bolivia  had  long  weighed  upon  the  heart  of 
Mr.  Milne.  A  song  of  rejoicing  goes  up  when  he  is  assured 
of  the  purpose  of  this  earnest  woman.  Before  her  death 
she  translated  the  Gospels  of  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and 
John,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans 
into  the  Quechua,  and  these  Scriptures  were  published  by 
the  American  Bible  Society.  Certain  of  the  Gospels  were 
later  published  in  parallel  columns,  one  column  in  Quechua, 
and  the  other  in  Spanish. 

Curiously  enough  a  Roman  Catholic  friar  who  had  perse- 
cuted the  colporteurs,  rendered  unconscious  assistance  to 
this  lady  in  her  translation  by  preparing,  with  government 
assistants,  a  vocabulary  of  the  Quechua  language  defining 
some  12,000  words. 


«.a 

%i. 

Jb^Sffl 

K                                    '.       1.  ■ 

W^l?'^ 

ShrJ^hIk 

^^^^juj 

[BteMHiS^  jR9  '  t' 

J^J 

^-  '"■' 

QUECHUA   INDIANS   OF   BOLIVIA 


I9i6]  DEATH  OF  MR.  MILNE  477 

Within  the  last  few  years  it  has  been  deemed  wise  to 
bring  out  jointly  with  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
a  translation  of  the  Gospels  into  a  form  of  Quechua  espe- 
cially adapted  to  the  Indians  of  Bolivia.  So  far  work  has 
been  carried  forward  by  the  Rev.  George  Allan,  and  these 
books  will  also  be  issued  in  diglot  editions  with  the  Spanish. 

In  1906  occurred  the  memorable  visit  of  the  Honourable 
Elihu  Root,  Secretary  of  State.  Mr.  Milne  was  among 
those  who  met  him  in  Buenos  Aires  and  presented  to  him  a 
statement  of  the  work  of  the  Society. 

On  the  20th  of  August,  1907,  after  forty-three  years  of 
service,  Mr.  Milne  passed  to  his  reward.  No  one  will  be 
able  to  write  the  history  of  Christianity  in  Latin-America 
without  giving  a  noticeable  place  to  the  work  of  this  conse- 
crated man  who  was  instrumental  in  putting  into  circula- 
tion nearly  one  million  volumes  of  the  Scriptures.  He  saw 
the  daylight  of  a  pure  Christianity  breaking  in  these  great 
republics. 

By  a  natural  succession  the  Rev.  F.  G.  Penzotti,  an 
Italian  Swiss  who  had  emigrated  to  South  America,  and 
who  was  converted  by  reading  a  Gospel  of  St.  John  put  in 
his  hands  by  Mr.  Milne,  and  who  for  many  years  had  served 
under  Mr.  Milne  on  the  West  coast  of  South  America,  suf- 
fering imprisonment  in  Peru,  as  has  been  narrated,  was 
transferred  from  the  care  of  the  Society's  work  in  the  Cen- 
tral American  Republics  to  this  larger  field.  The  circula- 
tion has  risen  year  by  year  until  in  the  last  year  of  the 
Society's  century  it  reached  86,000  volumes,  making  a  total 
in  the  La  Plata  Agency  of  1,464,674  volumes. 

Venezuela,  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made, 
had  been  visited  more  than  once  as  a  part  of  the  La  Plata 
Agency  and  later  the  Southern  part  of  Colombia  was  in- 
cluded in  the  same  Agency,  though  the  Northern  portion 
was  associated  with  the  Central  America  field. 

In  spite  of  persecution  in  1894,  in  both  Venezuela  and 
Colombia,  Mr.  Norwood  reported  a  circulation  of  6,916  vol- 
umes. The  next  year  he  transferred  his  central  depot  to 
Baranquilla,  in  Colombia.  He  visited  many  towns  and  cities 
for  the  first  time.  The  authorities  professed  to  guarantee 
religious  liberty. 


478  LATIN  AMERICA  [1891- 

In  the  year  1898,  ten  years  after  the  establishment  of  the 
Agency,  Mr.  Norwood  became  engaged  in  a  law  suit  because 
of  the  attempt  of  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  to  prevent 
Bible  distribution.  After  a  long  and  expensive  contest  a 
decision  was  given  at  Bogota  entirely  denying  the  claims  of 
the  priests  to  exercise  censorship  over  literature.  The  fol- 
lowing year  civil  war  again  interrupted  the  work  of  Mr. 
Norwood.  The  agent  was  so  shut  off  by  the  armies  that  it 
was  extremely  difficult  for  him  to  have  any  communication 
with  the  Bible  House  in  New  York.  Government  officials 
refused  to  allow  Bible  distribution  to  the  soldiers,  but  in  the 
liberal  army  colporteurs  were  permitted  to  enter  the  bar- 
racks and  to  offer  a  copy  to  every  soldier  who  promised  to 
read  it.  The  following  year  work  was  again  interrupted  by 
revolution,  and  practically  no  circulation  took  place.  Mr. 
Norwood  was  unable  even  to  communicate  with  New  York 
or  with  Mr.  Bailly,  his  co-labourer  in  Venezuela.  Shut  up 
in  Bucaramanga,  his  work  was  merely  nominal. 

In  the  year  1903,  Mr.  Norwood  was  obliged  to  leave  Co- 
lombia, and  when  he  went  back  after  the  establishment  of 
the  Republic  of  Panama,  he  found  so  strong  an  antipathy 
against  all  Americans  that  he  advised  the  discontinuance  of 
Bible  work  there  and  was  recalled.  He  continued  his  inter- 
est in  Spanish  speaking  people  and  was  engaged  in  mission 
work  in  the  United  States  until  his  death.  The  fields  of  the 
Agency  were  then  divided  between  adjacent  Agencies  and 
have  been  so  continued. 

Out  of  Colombia  came  one  of  the  most  important  versions 
on  the  Society's  list.  For  some  time  there  had  existed  in 
the  new  Protestant  Churches  in  Latin  America  a  desire  for  a 
more  faithful  translation  of  the  original  Hebrew  Old  Testa- 
ment and  the  Greek  New  Testament  into  Spanish  than  in 
the  opinion  of  scholars  was  represented  in  the  Valera  ver- 
sion, which  some  claimed  to  have  been  made  largely  from 
the  Vulgate. 

Dr.  H.  B.  Pratt,  a  Presbyterian  missionary  at  Bogota,  and 
a  thorough  student  in  the  languages  of  the  Bible,  was  com- 
missioned by  the  Society  to  bring  out  a  new  version.  After 
seven  years  of  work,  on  the  28th  of  February,  1893,  he 
completed  his  translation  of  the  Bible  into  Spanish.     It  was 


I9i6]  A  NEW  ERA  FOR  PANAMA  479 

called  the  Version  Moderna  and  at  once  met  with  a  very 
favourable  reception.  Dr.  Pratt  did  not  feel  entirely  satis- 
fied with  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament,  on  the  prep- 
aration of  which  he  felt  that  he  had  been  hurried,  and  he  was 
requested  by  the  Society  to  give  such  time  and  strength  as 
he  had  to  its  revision.  He  was  able  to  complete  the  work 
on  the  Gospels  before  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  nth 
of  December,  1912,  at  Hackensack,  New  Jersey.  His  name 
is  on  the  roll  of  honour  of  the  missionary  translators  of  the 
Bible. 

Mr.  Norwood,  of  the  Colombia  and  Venezuela  Agency, 
and  Mr.  Penzotti,  of  the  La  Plata  Agency,  visited  five  repub- 
lics of  Central  America  in  the  early  nineties,  exploring  as 
far  as  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  In  the  year  1892  the  Rev. 
F.  G.  Penzotti  was  appointed  agent  for  Central  America  and 
Panama.  The  circulation  averaged  seven  or  eight  thousand 
volumes  a  year.  It  was  a  difficult  field,  the  people  scattered 
in  six  different  republics.  When  the  Agency  was  established 
the  only  evangelistic  work  in  any  of  the  five  republics  was 
conducted  by  the  Presbyterian  mission  in  Guatemala. 
Guatemala  City  was  made  the  headquarters  of  the  Agency. 
Nine  or  ten  colporteurs  were  employed  continuously.  In  ^ 
1903  the  circulation  reached  a  total  of  16,673  volumes. 

All  at  once  the  Agency  assumed  new  importance.  With 
the  securing  of  the  Canal  Zone  by  the  United  States  from  the 
new  Republic  of  Panama  and  the  gigantic  operations  under- 
taken to  open  a  canal  from  ocean  to  ocean,  the  attention  of 
the  world  was  called  to  this  region. 

Filled  with  zeal  and  enthusiasm,  Mr.  Penzotti  recognised 
the  importance  of  these  movements  and  asked  for  means  to 
double  his  force  of  colporteurs.  A  few  years  later  there  was 
to  be  a  population  of  50,000  in  the  Canal  Zone  and  the 
Society  employed  twenty  men  in  the  six  republics  who 
visited  in  one  year  2,211  towns  and  villages. 

On  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Penzotti  to  the  post  in  the 
La  Plata  field  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Milne,  the 
Rev.  James  Hayter,  a  Baptist  missionary,  and  a  co-labourer 
with  Mr.  Penzotti,  was  appointed  Agent  for  Central 
America. 

On  his  furlough  in  191 3  Mr.  Hayter  was  requested  to 


48o  LATIN  AMERICA  [1891- 

visit  the  depot  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  at 
Port  Said  that  he  might  particularly  acquaint  himself  with 
the  methods  employed  in  reaching  the  ships  that  pass 
through  the  Suez  canal. 

An  arrangement  was  entered  into  by  which  the  American 
Bible  Society  transferred  to  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  all  of  its  work  and  good  will  in  Persia  and  in 
return  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  turned  over 
to  the  American  Bible  Society  the  work  which  it  had  had 
in  Central  America,  recognising  that  it  was  peculiarly  the 
province  of  the  American  Society  to  minister  to  the  oppor- 
tunities opened  by  the  construction  of  this  new  great  high- 
way between  the  oceans.  In  the  celebrations  connected  with 
the  opening  of  the  Canal,  Mr.  James  Wood,  the  President  of 
the  Society,  visited  Panama  and  arrangements  were  at  once 
entered  into  for  the  erection  of  a  Bible  House  at  Cristobal 
which  it  is  hoped  will  prove  a  beacon  light  to  many  and 
many  a  traveller  for  generations  to  come. 

The  requests  of  many  missionaries  for  a  new  revision  of 
the  Spanish  Scriptures  were  echoed  by  certain  religious 
bodies  in  Argentina,  in  particular  the  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  It  having  proved  impracti- 
cable to  arrange  at  this  time  a  joint  committee  with  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  in  1909  a  special  com- 
mittee consisting  of  the  Rev.  Henry  C.  Thomson,  of  Mexico ; 
the  Rev.  Charles  W.  Drees,  of  Argentina;  the  Rev.  John 
Howland,  of  Mexico;  the  Rev.  Francisco  Diez,  of  Chile, 
and  the  Rev.  Victoriano  D.  Baez,  of  Mexico,  was  organised 
in  the  Bible  House  in  New  York  City.  For  seven  months 
this  committee  met  daily  having  before  them  not  only  the 
original  Greek  but  all  of  the  existing  Spanish  versions  to 
prepare  a  new  revised  Spanish  version.  With  the  comple- 
tion of  the  Four  Gospels  in  1910  the  committee  was  dis- 
continued in  order  that  their  work  might  be  tested  on  the 
field.  On  his  way  to  the  World's  Missionary  Conference  in 
Edinburgh,  in  1901,  Secretary  Haven,  taking  with  him  the 
new  version  of  the  Four  Gospels,  visited  the  Spanish  pen- 
insula and  conferred  with  the  committee  in  Madrid  at 
work  upon  a  revision  of  the  Valera,  and  later  with  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  in  London. 


I9i6]  REVISED  SPANISH  VERSION  481 

The  project  of  a  joint  translation  was  taken  up,  and  in  191 2 
three  representatives  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  the 
Rev.  H.  C.  Thomson,  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  W.  Drees,  and  the 
Rev.  Victoriano  D.  Baez,  were  sent  to  Spain  to  meet  with 
three  representatives  of  the  British  Society.  Faithfully 
this  joint  committee  has  been  at  work,  and  the  approaching 
Centennial  will  be  celebrated  by  the  completion  of  theit 
version  of  the  New  Testament  for  the  ninety  millions  of 
Spanish  speaking  people  in  the  world.  As  the  Centennial 
approaches  the  Latin-American  Congress  is  meeting  at 
Panama,  which  may  prove  a  significant  turning  point  in  the 
development  of  Christian  work  in  all  these  countries  where 
the  Society  has  been  a  pioneer,  and  there  could  be  no  more 
fitting  moment  for  the  publication  of  a  revised  version  of 
the  Spanish  Scriptures,  and  the  recounting  of  these  years 
of  missionary  labour,  sowing  the  good  seed  over  these  vast 
regions. 


CHAPTER  LIII 

OPENING  DOORS   OF   THE  FAR   EAST 

This  waterfall's  melodius  voice  — 
Was  famed  both  far  and  near; 
Although   it  long  has   ceased   to  flow, 
Yet  still  with  memory's  ear, 
Its  genial  splash  I  hear. 

In  this  Japanese  poem  of  the  tenth  century  is  stated  the 
deathlessness  of  influences  that  have  been  set  in  motion 
even  when  conditions  have  changed.  The  days  of  the  be- 
ginning of  the  introduction  of  the  Scriptures  into  Japan 
have  passed  but  the  impression  made  by  the  early  translators 
and  the  effect  of  the  early  translation  continues.  Korea,  at 
the  beginning  of  this  period  a  separate  nation,  is  inextricably 
entwined  with  the  affairs  of  the  Japanese  Empire.  In  the 
mind  of  the  Society,  the  two  fields  are  one  and  Mr.  Loomis 
administered  the  work  in  the  peninsula  of  Korea  from  Yoko- 
hama, as  he  did  the  work  in  all  the  islands  of  Japan.  There 
is  this  difference,  however,  that  translation  work  in  the  early 
nineties  was  just  beginning  in  Korea.  In  1894  a  transla- 
tion committee  was  finally  chosen  by  the  missionaries  and 
the  Society  agreed  to  participate  in  the  expense  of  the  work. 
Five  thousand  copies  of  Rijutei's  St.  Mark,  printed  for  the 
Society,  with  certain  changes  in  orthography,  were  sent  to 
Korea  and  a  new  supply  of  Korean  Gospels  written  with 
Chinese  characters. 

In  1895  the  Japanese  Government  undertook  the  recon- 
struction of  the  Korean  administration.  The  Japanese  Min- 
ister of  Home  Affairs,  sent  to  supervise  the  work,  took  with 
him  as  associates  two  Christian  Japanese.  The  result  was 
that  on  January  i,  1895,  ^^^  religious  restrictions  were  re- 
moved in  Korea  and  Sunday  was  proclaimed  a  day  of  rest 
by  an  Imperial  edict.  The  excitement  of  the  war  between 
Japan  and  China  disturbed  evangelistic  work,  but  it  left  free 

482 


1891-1916]        THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE  483 

those  engaged  in  the  work  of  translation.  The  following 
year  Mr.  Loomis  visited  Korea  and  made  arrangements  for 
the  publishing  of  the  new  version  and  for  Bible  distribution, 
but  it  was  not  until  1899  that  the  translation  committee 
decided  to  print  the  whole  New  Testament  without  waiting 
for  a  full  revision  of  it. 

The  great  success  following  the  use  of  the  Scriptures  by 
the  missionaries  in  Korea  led  them  to  this  step.  One  of  the 
Methodist  missionaries  at  this  time  said:  ''  Nine-tenths  of 
our  successes  are  the  result  of  Bible  work."  A  Presbyterian 
missionary  said :  "  Nearly  every  encouraging  case  brought 
to  our  notice  shows  some  influence  of  the  Bible  colporteur." 
The  first  Sunday  in  May  was  set  apart  as  Bible  Sunday.  It 
was  not,  however,  until  September,  1900,  that  the  comple- 
tion of  the  translation  in  Korean  was  celebrated,  and  two 
years  later  the  Society  was  informed  that  the  native  Chris- 
tians were  eager  for  the  translation  of  the  whole  Bible. 

In  japan  Bible  distribution  through  this  period  was  en- 
trusted to  a  committee.  Three  of  the  committee  were  the 
agents  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  the  British  and  For- 
eign Bible  Society,  and  the  National  Bible  Society  of  Scot- 
land. Six  missionaries  were  appointed  by  the  American 
Bible  Society  and  four  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society.  This  arrangement  was  entered  into  at  the  request 
of  the  misssionaries  of  Japan  in  order  to  bring  about  har- 
mony between  the  Societies  operating  in  the  Empire.  All 
possibility  of  rivalry  or  competition  was  by  this  means  re- 
moved, but  the  circulation  was  less  than  was  expected.  In 
1894  the  committee  gave  up  the  premises  in  Yokohama 
that  had  been  occupied  by  the  American  Bible  Society  for 
fifteen  years  and  transferred  the  headquarters  to  a  place 
more  convenient  to  the  foreign  residents,  although  more 
distant  from  the  Japanese  quarters.  The  following  year 
the  Bible  House  in  Yokohama  burned  and  floods  and 
drought  brought  difficulties.  The  great  war  with  China 
absorbed  attention  and  there  was  a  shortage  of  books.  On 
the  other  hand  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Japanese 
army  gave  his  hearty  approval  for  the  distribution  of  the 
Scriptures  among  the  soldiers  and  expressed  his  thanks  for 
the   same.     The   circulation   for   this  year   was   less  than 


484  OPENING  DOORS  [1891- 

100,000  volumes.  In  1895,  however,  257,578  volumes  were 
put  into  circulation,  but  the  following  year  again  the  circu- 
lation dropped  to  just  a  little  over  100,000  and  three-fourths 
of  these  were  free  grants.  The  changes  produced  by  the 
war  and  various  disasters  in  different  parts  of  Japan  ac- 
counted for  the  demand  for  gratuitous  distribution.  Two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  people  were  estimated  as  receiv- 
ing government  relief  at  this  time. 

An  interesting  attempt  to  minister  to  the  ancient  people 
of  the  northern  islands  was  the  publication,  in  1896,  of  an 
Ainu  version  of  the  Psalms  prepared  by  Rev.  John  Bach- 
ellor,  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  Two  years  later 
the  complete  New  Testament  in  this  language  was  published 
by  the  committee.  The  same  year,  1898,  the  Roman 
Catholic  Mission  brought  out  an  edition  of  the  Four  Gospels 
with  notes,  in  two  volumes,  at  a  price  a  good  deal  higher 
than  the  books  of  the  Bible  Societies. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  circulation  averaged  about 
100,000  copies.  This  did  not  seem  satisfactory,  and  in  1904 
by  a  mutual  agreement  between  the  agents  of  the  Societies 
and  the  missionaries,  the  Bible  committee  was  dissolved  and 
the  Japanese  field  was  divided,  the  American  Bible  Society 
taking  the  Northern  portion  of  the  Empire,  with  its  head- 
quarters in  Yokohama,  and  the  British  Societies  operating 
together,  taking  the  Southern  portion  of  the  Empire,  with 
their  headquarters  at  Kobe.  It  was  agreed  that  the  same 
editions  should  be  used  by  both  agencies,  and  at  the  same 
prices. 

Interestingly  enough,  at  the  very  time  when  the  com- 
mittee was  given  up  in  Japan,  arrangements  were  made  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  for 
a  joint  agency  in  Korea.  Translation  work  has  proceeded 
slowly  in  Korea  and  the  American  Bible  Society  had  deemed 
it  wise  to  wait  until  that  work  had  approached  completion 
before  developing  a  separate  agency  in  that  country.  The 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  had  entered  the  country 
from  its  North  China  and  Manchurian  Agency,  with  a  sub- 
agent  in  Korea.  The  American  Bible  Society  had  continued 
care  for  that  part  of  its  field  through  its  agent  in  Yokohama. 

During  the  year  1901  the  Rev.  D.  A.  Bunker  acted  as 


I9i6]  JOINT  AGENCY  IN  KOREA  485 

Superintendent  of  the  Society's  work  in  Korea.  Hitherto 
it  had  been  difficult  to  get  colporteurs.  This  year  certain 
native  Christians  were  selected  who  seemed  to  learn  the 
work  quite  easily. 

The  joint  Agency  did  not  go  into  effect  until  the  first  of 
January,  1904.  The  Rev.  Alexander  Kenmure,  who  had 
been  the  agent  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  and 
the  National  Bible  Society  of  Scotland,  was  chosen  as  the 
joint  agent  of  the  three  Societies.  In  his  report  he  says, 
*'  The  joint  Agency  is  a  striking  fact,  and  yet,  why  should 
it  be  in  any  way  remarkable  ?  There  is  one  Lord,  one  faith, 
one  baptism,  why  not  one  Bible  Society  circulating  the 
Word?" 

This  year  the  Korean  version  of  the  New  Testament  was 
at  last  finished  and  ready  to  go  to  press.  The  extension  of 
the  influence  of  this  version  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  Korean 
labourers  began  to  emigrate  to  Hawaii,  Western  Mexico, 
California,  and  even  Yucatan. 

The  following  year  Mr.  Kenmure  returned  to  England 
in  ill  health  and  Mr.  Hugh  Miller,  who  had  been  assistant 
agent,  was  appointed  to  the  care  of  the  joint  Agency.  Fifty- 
three  colporteurs  and  fifteen  Bible  women  were  employed, 
and  the  agent  reports  '*  The  Korean  is  awakening  out  of  the 
sleep  of  ages  with  a  hungering  for  better  things  and  a  will- 
ingness to  buy  Christian  books  and  investigate  the  truths 
which  they  set  forth."  Four  sentences  seem  to  cover  the 
facts  of  the  year — "Work  going  on.  Blessings  coming 
down.     Converts  coming  in.     Praise  going  up." 

At  the  request  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 
the  joint  Agency  was  given  up  at  the  close  of  the  year  1907. 
This  year  the  Emperor  of  Korea  abdicated  in  favour  of  his 
son,  and  the  Japanese  officials  sent  the  son  to  Japan  to  be 
educated,  in  the  meantime  taking  over  the  whole  administra- 
tion of  the  Korean  government.  At  the  request  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,  the  Rev.  D.  A.  Bunker,  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Mission,  agreed  to  take  charge  of  the 
Society's  interests  on  the  first  of  January,  1908.  He  en- 
gaged twenty  or  more  colporteurs  and  sent  them  forth  into 
districts  where  foreign  missionaries  had  never  been  seen. 
That  year  24,206  volumes  were  circulated,  and  the  following 


486  OPENING  DOORS  [1891- 

year  70,187  volumes,  an  increase  of  more  than  100%  ;  over 
1,000  villages  had  been  visited  and  thirteen  new  churches 
sprung  from  this  work. 

Interesting  work  was  carried  on  among  the  Japanese 
in  Korea,  a  Japanese  colporteur  being  employed. 

In  191 1  the  Rev.  S.  A.  Beck,  of  University  City,  Nebraska, 
who  had  been  for  a  number  of  years  a  missionary  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Korea,  and  who  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  language,  was  chosen  as  the  agent  for  the 
Society  to  succeed  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bunker,  who  had  returned 
home  on  furlough.  In  1910  the  Korean  Old  Testament,  long 
in  making,  was  at  last  finished.  The  type  favoured  by  the 
people  was  so  large  that  this  Bible  was  brought  out  in  two 
volumes.  The  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  Korean 
was  accomplished  by  a  faithful  band  of  missionaries  so 
burdened  with  other  tasks  in  the  development  of  that  won- 
derful field  that  it  had  been  impossible  to  give  themselves 
wholly  to  translation.  Two  of  this  group  had  entered 
Korea  in  1885  together,  one  the  Rev.  H.  G.  Underwood, 
now  a  veteran  missionary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Seoul,  the  other  the  Rev.  H.  G.  Appenzeller,  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Mission.  On  the  nth  of  June,  1902,  Mr. 
Appenzeller  took  passage  on  a  steamer  to  attend  a  meeting 
of  the  Bible  Committee.  The  same  night,  in  collision  with 
another  steamer,  Mr.  Appenzeller's  ship  sank  with  all  on 
board.  The  influence  of  his  life  remains  not  only  in  many 
Korean  converts  who  revere  his  memory,  but  in  the  New 
Testament,  in  the  translation  of  which  he  bore  a  most  impor- 
tant part.^ 

In  191 2,  the  Board  of  Translators  changed  their  name  to 
the  Board  of  Revisers.  It  was  not  sufficient  to  have  the 
Scriptures  in  Korean.  It  was  necessary  for  them  to  be 
brought  out  in  what  is  called  the  Mixed  Script,  in  which 
Chinese  characters  are  used.  This  work  is  still  going  for- 
ward and  with  it  the  revision  and  the  perfecting  also  of 
reference  versions.  The  circulation  has  advanced  remark- 
ably. In  1913  it  totalled  176,880  volumes.  In  1914  it 
reached  a  total  of  458,694  volumes.     Nowhere  in  the  world 

1  Missionaries  who  have  had  a  part  in  this  Korean  Version  are 
named  in  the  Appendix. 


I9i6]  JAPAN  AND  RUSSIA  AT  WAR  487 

is  there  a  more  intense  Bible  loving  Christian  church  than  in 
this  country  known  only  a  few  years  ago  as  "  the  Hermit 
Nation." 

There  perhaps  was  never  a  more  startHng  event  outside 
of  the  present  almost  unimaginable  conflict  in  Europe,  than 
the  war  between  Japan  and  Russia.  No  one  dreamed  that 
the  little  island  empire  would  dare  to  attack  the  Colossus  of 
the  Snows.  The  provocation  was  of  ten  years'  standing. 
When  at  the  conclusion  of  its  war  with  China,  Japan  found 
its  fruits  of  victory  taken  from  it  and  Russia  occupying  Port 
Arthur,  the  iron  entered  into  its  soul.  In  one  of  the  hidden 
villages  of  the  empire  years  after,  a  traveller  was  told  by  the 
simple  villagers  that  they  had  heard  the  voices  of  the  spirits 
of  the  soldiers  who  had  died  in  the  Chinese  war  calling  them 
to  be  ready  for  the  war  with  Russia.  It  broke  in  all  its  fury 
in  1904  and  in  the  swift  months  that  followed  Japan  emerged 
onto  the  world  stage  as  one  of  the  mighty  nations  of  the 
earth.  It  is  sad  to  reflect,  as  one  of  its  own  nobles  said, 
"  that  all  it  had  wrought  in  painting,  and  sculpture,  and  deli- 
cate artistry  in  precious  metals,  and  all  of  its  courtesies  and 
kindly  manners  had  failed  to  give  it  the  world  recognition 
that  it  received  from  its  feats  of  arms."  The  Society  rec- 
ognised in  this  hour  of  the  nation's  intense  patriotism  an 
opportunity  that  comes  rarely.  Mr.  Loomis,  in  most  inti- 
mate relations  with  many  of  the  leaders  of  the  Japanese 
Empire,  secured  at  once  a  welcome  for  the  Society's  Scrip- 
tures in  the  navy  and  received  from  one  of  the  Japanese 
Admirals  a  most  cordial  letter  of  thanks.  Tens  of  thou- 
sands of  Japanese  Gospels  were  placed  in  the  comfort  bags 
which  the  Japanese  women  prepared  for  the  out-going 
troops;  but  perhaps  the  most  blessed  ministry  of  all  was 
the  going  from  cot  to  cot  in  the  military  hospitals  and  placing 
in  the  hands  of  the  sufferers  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Numer- 
ous instances  are  on  record  of  the  light  from  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ  breaking  in  upon  the  hearts  of  those  who  read 
these  Scriptures  to  the  great  joy  of  these  young  soldiers. 
One  wrote,  "  I  was  sent  to  Oiwake  to  recover  from  my  sick- 
ness, and  while  there  I  learned  about  the  narrow  way,  and 
by  God's  help  I  was  able  to  enter  into  the  gate  of  life." 
Even  Count  Okuma  is  quoted  as  saying,  "  As  you  read  the 


488  OPENING  DOORS  [1891- 

Bible,  you  may  think  it  is  antiquated.  The  words  it  con- 
tains may  so  appear,  but  the  noble  Hfe  which  it  holds  up  to 
admiration  is  something  that  will  never  be  out  of  date." 

One  of  the  immediate  results  of  the  war  was  the  great  in- 
flux of  students  into  Japan.  In  1906  there  were  800  Korean 
students  and  about  17,000  Chinese  students  studying  in 
Japan.  The  Society  at  once  attempted  to  reach  these  stu- 
dents with  the  Scriptures.  The  following  year  7,000  vol- 
umes in  European  languages  were  purchased  by  the  students 
of  Japan  in  the  pursuit  of  their  studies.  The  knowledge  of 
the  Bible  has  so  permeated  the  nation  that  the  words  of  the 
prophets,  and  apostles,  and  many  of  the  sayings  of  Jesus  are 
quoted  in  the  daily  newspapers. 

In  the  year  1910  Mr.  Loomis  retired.  The  circulation 
had  advanced  to  201,190  volumes  in  the  Northern  part  of 
the  Empire  alone.  The  following  year  Mr.  Loomis  resigned 
after  thirty  years  in  the  service  of  the  Society.  He  had 
the  respect  and  confidence  of  all  the  missionary  body  and 
the  esteem  of  the  growing  Japanese  Church.  Courteous  in 
his  manners,  acquainted  with  the  best  in  the  Empire,  thor- 
oughly believing  in  the  purposes  of  the  Japanese  people,  he 
made  friends  innumerable  for  the  Society. 

In  his  illness  Dr.  Herbert  W.  Schwartz,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Mission,  attended  him  and  also  relieved  him  of 
the  burden  of  the  cares  of  the  agency ;  so  that  it  was  a  pleas- 
ure to  the  Society  to  appoint  Dr.  Schwartz  as  Acting  Agent 
and  later  as  its  Agent  for  its  work  in  Japan.  Through  his 
skill,  his  knowledge  of  Japanese,  his  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  Japan  Church,  the  circulation  has  advanced  year 
by  year  until  it  reached  the  total  in  1914  of  643,799  volumes 
circulated  during  the  year. 

All  the  astonishing  changes  taking  place  in  this  country 
were  reflected  in  their  language.  The  speech  of  man  is  a 
fluid-flowing  medium.  It  is  only  fixed  when  the  language 
is  dead. 

The  very  satisfactory  work  of  the  translators,  recognised 
by  the  Emperor  of  Japan  in  presenting  to  Dr.  Hepburn  on 
his  ninetieth  birthday  the  '*  Jewelled  Order  of  the  Rising 
Sun,"  could  not,  however,  be  permanent.  For  a  number 
of  years  a  desire  for  a  revision  was  manifested  here  and 


I9i6]        A  GOSPEL  PRINTING  COMPANY  489 

there,  and  in  1906  the  Japan  Evangelical  Alliance  proposed 
to  the  agents  of  the  Bible  Societies  that  steps  be  taken  for  a 
revision  of  the  Japanese  Bible,  published  in  its  completed 
form  twenty  years  before.  Four  years  later  a  Committee 
of  Japanese  scholars  and  missionaries,  four  of  each,  was 
appointed  to  undertake  this  revision,  the  Bible  Societies 
agreeing  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  Committee.^  The 
work  has  made  commendable  progress,  and  it  is  anticipated 
that  the  revised  New  Testament  will  be  published  during  the 
year  1916. 

In  Yokohama,  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  industrial  plants  of  the  Far  East.  It  is  a  purely 
Japanese  printing  establishment.  Its  founder  and  present 
manager,  Mr.  Muruoka,  is  a  member  of  the  Christian 
Church  and  an  honorary  life-member  of  the  American 
Bible  Society.  From  small  beginnings  this  firm  bearing  the 
name  "  Fukien  or  Gospel  Printing  Company  "  has  developed 
and  enlarged  until  it  serves  not  only  the  Christian  communi- 
ties of  Japan  and  Korea,  but  the  great  churches  in  China, 
and  the  PhiHppines  and  even  Siam. 

The  American  Bible  Society  has  long  made  use  of  its 
accurate  and  careful  workmanship  and  has  brought  out  edi- 
tions from  its  presses  in  all  the  languages  of  the  Far  East. 
The  other  Bible  Societies  operating  in  these  lands  have  also 
found  it  a  most  dependable  establishment.  It  is  a  pharos 
illuminating  the  coast  and  sending  its  rays  of  light  far  into 
the  adjacent  lands  of  Asia. 

How  little  could  Gutenberg  have  dreamed  when  he  printed 
the  Latin  Bible  on  the  first  printing  press  on  the  Rhine, 
that  the  day  would  come  when  a  great  plant  for  the  print- 
ing of  the  Scriptures  would  rival  his  own  on  the  shores  of 
the  Pacific! 

An  American  orator  has  said  that  "  the  Far  East  is  like  a 
great  ship  and  Japan  is  its  rudder."  If  this  be  even  partially 
true,  what  reasons  for  thanksgiving  there  are  that  the  Bible 
has  so  widely  entered  into  the  life  of  this  dominant  people. 

iThe  names  of  the  Missionary  members  of  this  Committee  will 
be  found  in  the  Appendix.  The  Japanese  members  of  the  Com- 
mittee are  Prof.  U.  Bessho,  Prof.  T.  Fujii,  Rev.  M.  Kawazoe,  and 
Prof.  T.  Matsuyama. 


CHAPTER  LIV 

THE  WHITE  ELEPHANT  AND  THE  DRAGON 

Suddenly  and  swiftly  events  come  to  a  climax,  startling 
the  world,  for  which  quiet  and  unseen  forces  have  long  been 
working.  Under  the  waters  of  Hellgate  at  the  entrance  of 
New  York  Harbour,  in  the  dangerous  rocks  that  made  the 
channel  narrow  and  perilous,  engineers  had  been  working 
for  years  cutting  corridors  here  and  there  and  planting 
mines.  In  a  moment  when  all  was  ready,  by  simple  electric 
contact,  in  a  vast  upheaval,  the  whole  barrier  of  centuries 
was  swept  away  and  a  new  entrance  to  the  great  harbour 
free  for  all  the  argosies  of  commerce  and  friendly  inter- 
course with  the  nations  of  the  earth  was  opened. 

For  years  upon  years  earnest  Christians  offered  prayer 
for  the  opening  of  the  Far  East  to  their  spiritual  messengers. 
Now  suddenly  it  is  all  open  and  there  are  no  closed  lands. 

Two  nations,  one  Siam,  a  liberal  monarchy;  the  other 
ancient  China,  in  a  convulsion  changed  from  reactionary 
Imperialism  to  the  outward  forms  and  much  of  the  spirit 
of  a  Democracy,  are  lands  in  which  the  circulation  of  the 
Scriptures  has  played  a  large  part  in  the  influencing  of  pub- 
lic opinion. 

We  have  recounted  the  early  labours  of  Mr.  Carrington. 
We  have  seen  him  busy  in  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures 
into  Siamese;  seeing  their  publication  through  the  press  of 
the  Presbyterian  Mission  at  Bangkok  and  in  self-denying 
journeying  going  about  as  a  colporteur  distributing  these 
Scriptures  among  the  people.  In  1896  he  brings  out  an 
experimental  Version  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke  in  Cam- 
bodian in  order  that  a  region  where  no  evangelistic  work 
has  been  attempted  may  be  opened  up.  In  1899  he  brings 
out  the  Book  of  Genesis  in  the  Laos  language  prepared  by 
the    Reverend    Jonathan    Wilson.     In    1905    approval    is 

490 


1891-1916]  DOORS  WIDE  OPEN  491 

granted  for  the  transliteration  of  the  Siamese  Scriptures 
into  the  Laos  dialect  to  temporarily  supply  the  Laos  people 
until  books  are  ready  in  their  own  tongue.  Three  years 
before  three  books  of  the  New  Testament  and  Isaiah  were 
translated  into  this  language.  Later  when  Mr.  Carrington 
is  on  furlough,  Mr.  Cameron  temporarily  in  care  of  the 
Agency  pressed  out  into  the  Northern  mountain  region  of 
Siam  among  tribesmen  known  as  ''  Yao  men,"  whom  he 
found  very  eager  to  have  the  Bible.  Just  over  the  border 
are  Chinese  who  are  called  "  Miao  "  for  whom  Scriptures 
have  been  prepared  which  has  led  some  vain  reviewer  to 
intimate  that  the  Bible  Societies  are  not  content  to  minister 
to  all  the  strange  tongues  of  human  speech,  but  are  even 
preparing  the  Scriptures  for  the  cats. 

Everywhere  Mr.  Carrington  found  doors  wide  open, 
opportunities  as  he  says,  "limited  only  by  the  strength  of 
workers  to  go  forward."  One  of  his  great  difficulties  is  in 
securing  colporteurs.  Government  officers  and  foreigners 
in  business  in  Siam  are  so  quick  to  offer  high  salaries  to 
any  one  who  is  competent,  that  when  a  faithful  man  is 
trained  to  be  a  good  colporteur,  he  finds  himself  in  great 
demand;  so  the  Agent  depends  on  the  widely  scattered 
forces  of  missionaries  of  the  American  Presbyterian  Board, 
the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  and  the  Plymouth 
Brethren  from  England  on  the  Western  side  of  the  Malay 
Peninsula,  together  with  five  colporteurs  and  his  own  per- 
sonal labours.  In  the  year  1905  the  Agent  himself  sold 
16,249  books.  The  field  is  difficult  because  of  lack  of  rapid 
travelling.  It  takes  as  long  to  go  from  Bangkok  to  Cheng 
Mai  in  Northwestern  Siam  as  it  does  from  Bangkok  to  San 
Francisco.  One  of  his  journeys  to  the  West  Coast  occu- 
pied four  months.  Weary  and  lonely  Mr.  Carrington  often 
was,  but  he  writes  to  the  Bible  House  in  New  York,  "  We 
are  willing  to  be  let  down  into  the  dark  here  because  we 
know  that  the  rope  is  held  by  your  hands  with  a  loving, 
firm,  constant  grip,  and  that  you  will  not  let  go." 

In  1903  Mr.  Carrington  asked  for  a  boat,  which  was 
granted  to  him,  with  which  he  was  able  to  visit  large  areas 
of  population  living  on  the  banks  of  rivers  and  canals  acces- 
sible in  this  way  from  Bangkok. 


492  WHITE  ELEPHANT  AND  DRAGON    [1891- 

That  which  gives  courage  and  strengthens  the  faith  of 
such  a  man  is  an  incident  he  relates  of  a  Chinaman  receiv- 
ing a  Chinese  New  Testament  on  the  West  Coast  of  the 
Gulf  of  Siam.  Some  time  after  this  man,  thoroughly  con- 
verted by  reading  the  New  Testament,  decided  to  declare 
himself  a  Christian.  He  invited  a  missionary  to  visit  him 
and  help  him  clear  his  house  of  idols.  The  idols  and  altars 
were  all  taken  out  in  front  of  the  house  and  publicly  burned. 

In  1908  Mr.  Carrington  came  home  on  a  well  earned  fur- 
lough. The  first  translation  of  the  Bible  into  Siamese,  a 
very  large  portion  of  which  had  been  the  work  of  Mr.  Car- 
rington himself,  was  completed.  The  whole  was  in  process 
of  revision.  Beginnings  had  been  made  in  Cambodian  and 
Laos.  At  the  Commencement  of  Princeton  University  in 
the  spring  of  1908,  in  recognition  of  the  scholarly  labours  of 
all  these  years  and  of  the  distinguished  services  of  this  man, 
who  had  the  good  faith  of  the  common  people  and  the 
friendship  of  the  highest  officials  in  Siam,  he  was  given  the 
title  of  Doctor  of  Divinity. 

On  his  return  to  Siam,  having  the  advantage  of  an  Assist- 
ant Agent,  the  Rev.  Robert  Irwin,  formerly  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Mission  to  the  Laos,  he  is  able  to  report  an 
increase  of  more  than  30,000  in  the  circulation.  In  191 3  he 
reports  the  New  Testament  in  Laos  completed  and  some 
advance  in  the  translation  of  the  Old  Testament. 

Suddenly  on  October  nth,  1912,  Dr.  Carrington  ceased 
from  his  labours.  On  October  13th  he  was  buried  in  the 
Siam  that  he  loved.  He  was  a  significant  figure  in  the  mis- 
sionary annals  of  the  Far  East,  universally  respected  and 
greatly  beloved.  His  funeral  cortege  vied  in  numbers  and 
distinction  with  that  of  two  other  great  Americans,  Stroebel 
and  Hamilton  King,  the  American  Minister  to  Siam. 

The  Rev.  Robert  Irwin  entered  upon  his  labours  and  after 
the  close  of  twenty-five  years  since  the  creation  of  the  Siam 
Agency,  the  Society  reports,  in  addition  to  the  service  rend- 
ered in  the  translation  and  publication  of  the  Scriptures  in 
the  language  of  this  nation,  the  circulation  of  1,194,819 
volumes  among  the  people. 

In  the  Empire  to  the  North  of  this  Southern  Kingdom 
this  period  begins  with  the  great  popularity  of  the  new  issue 


I9i6]  DR.  J.  R.  HYKES,  AGENT  493 

of  the  Bible  in  Foochow  colloquial  all  over  the  Fukien 
Province,  where  the  missions  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  started  their  first  work  in  China  and  where  the 
American  Board  had  developed  important  interests  in  the 
city  of  Foochow.  Colporteurs  were  sent  to  work  in  For- 
mosa. The  Canton  colloquial,  many  years  in  preparation, 
was  now  ready  for  the  press  to  meet  the  needs  of  the 
American  Presbyterian  and  Baptist  missionaries  in  Canton, 
one  of  the  most  characteristic  cities  in  the  Far  East. 

Perhaps  the  most  notable  event  for  the  Society  in  these 
years,  approaching  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century,  was 
the  appointment  on  November  ist,  1893,  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
John  R.  Hykes,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  mission  of 
Kiukiang,  China,  as  the  Agent  of  the  American  Bible  So- 
ciety for  China.  The  first  church  opened  in  this  city,  four 
hundred  miles  up  the  Yangtse,  was  ministered  to  by  one 
who  had  been  a  colporteur  of  the  Society.  He  was  the 
first  Chinese  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  these  regions.  His  daughter  is  known  the  world  around 
as  Dr.  Mary  Stone,  and  her  hospital  at  Kiukiang  is  a  Mecca 
for  all  who  love  to  see  how  the  ministry  of  healing  can  be 
made  a  ministry  also  of  salvation.  From  this  mission  on 
the  Yangtse,  founded  in  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures, 
it  was  natural  that  an  Agent  should  be  chosen  to  whom  it 
should  be  given  to  see  the  most  wonderful  changes  in  China 
of  all  its  long,  long  history,  and  to  have  a  part  in  a  circula- 
tion of  the  Scriptures  passing  from  a  total  in  the  year  that 
his  predecessor,  Dr.  Wheeler,  died,  April  20th,  1893,  o^ 
192,215  volumes  to  a  total  for  the  last  year,  ending  Decem- 
ber 31st,  191 5,  of  2,244,746  volumes.  Little  could  he  have 
dreamed  at  his  appointment  of  this  vast  expansion  of  the 
work  before  him.  He  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  take  up 
this  work  by  his  almost  perfect  knowledge  of  Chinese,  so 
that  he  could  talk  freely  with  the  people,  and  his  business 
sagacity,  as  well  as  his  sincere  love  for  the  Scriptures  and 
belief  in  their  power  as  an  evangelising  agency. 

The  world  is  familiar  with  the  events  of  these  two  dec- 
ades. The  war  with  Japan;  in  1897  the  seizure  of  Kiao- 
chow  by  the  Germans,  the  occupation  of  Port  Arthur  by 
the  Russians  and  the  demands  of  France  in  the  South  in 


494  WHITE  ELEPHANT  AND  DRAGON    [1891- 

1898;  the  decrees  of  the  young  Emperor  in  1899  abolishing 
the  essay  system  of  examinations ;  estabHshing  a  University, 
introducing  the  study  of  Western  sciences,  officially  under- 
taking the  translation  into  Chinese  of  books  of  Western 
learning  and  the  sending  of  young  Chinese  abroad  for  study. 

The  forces  of  darkness  swiftly  gathered.  On  the  22nd 
of  September  by  coitp  d'etat  the  Empress  Dowager  deposed 
the  Emperor  and  took  over  again  the  Regency  of  the  Empire. 
Six  days  later,  without  trial,  six  martyrs  to  reform  were 
executed  at  Peking.  Before  he  died  T'an  Sz  T'ung  said : 
"If  my  death  will  save  my  countr}^  I  do  not  regret  it.  For 
every  head  cut  off  this  day  a  thousand  men  will  arise  to 
carry  on  the  work  of  reform."  In  1900  the  terrible  Boxer 
massacre  broke  out  all  over  the  Chinese  Empire  in  which 
183  Protestant  missionaries,  including  60  men,  75  women, 
and  48  children,  were  killed,  the  native  Christians  w^ere 
cruelly  persecuted,  their  crops  destroyed,  their  property 
looted,  their  houses  burned,  and  in  numberless  instances 
they  were  tortured  and  put  to  death.  The  movement  start- 
ing in  the  Province  of  Shangtung  spread  into  the  Province 
of  Chihli,  and  its  path  was  marked  by  pillage,  murder  and 
nameless  cruelties.  On  June  i-ith  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Japanese  Legation  was  killed  on  the  streets  of  Peking  by 
Imperial  soldiers,  and  on  the  20th,  the  German  Minister 
while  on  his  way  to  the  Foreign  Office  was  murdered  on 
the  streets  by  a  military  Mandarin  in  full  uniform.  The 
foreigners  took  refuge  in  the  Legations,  where  they  were 
besieged  for  two  months  by  the  Boxers  and  Imperial  troops, 
until  after  breathless  suspense  all  over  the  world  they  were 
finally  relieved  by  the  troops  of  the  allied  powers  on  the 
15th  of  August.  An  Edict  went  forth  in  June  from  the 
Empress  Dowager  ordering  the  extermination  of  all  foreign- 
ers in  China.  The  rage,  as  Dr.  Hykes  says,  of  the  infuri- 
ated Boxers  was  "  directed  equally  against  diplomat,  mer- 
chant, traveller,  and  missionary,  so  that  the  movement  cannot 
be  truthfully  said  to  have  been  solely  anti-missionary." 

After  the  arrival  of  the  allies  with  the  first  year  of  the 
new  century,  Reform  Edicts  were  issued  by  the  Empress 
Dowager.  In  1905  the  startling  war  between  Japan  and 
Russia  stirred  China  through  and  through.     Three  years 


I9i6]  THE  EMPEROR'S  ORDER  495 

later  the  Empress  Dowager  died  and  her  nephew  the  Em- 
peror Kwang-hsu  also.  In  another  three  years,  after  agita- 
tions and  transformations  in  which  the  campaign  against  the 
vice  of  opium  smoking  must  not  be  forgotten,  came  the 
establishment  of  the  Republic  and  the  overthrow  of  the 
Manchu  Dynasty.  Floods  and  plagues  accompanied  these 
events,  and  now  as  we  close  our  century,  the  Republic  so 
suddenly  erected  is  ancient  history  and  Yuan  Shih  Kai  the 
one  great  outstanding  figure  in  China  has  ascended  the  Im- 
perial throne,  though  his  coronation  is  deferred. 

The  part  of  the  Bible  and  the  Bible  Society  in  all  this  is 
not  so  well  known.  The  young  Emperor  Kwang-hsu  was 
a  devout  Bible  lover  and  frequently  retired  to  a  quiet  place 
in  his  Palace  to  pray.  It  is  recorded  that  one  of  the 
eunuchs  of  the  Palace  visited  Dr.  T.  J.  N.  Gatrell,  then  in 
charge  of  our  work  in  North  China,  at  his  book-store,  carry- 
ing a  slip  of  paper  on  which  was  written,  *'  One  Old  Testa- 
ment, One  New  Testament."  One  Wang  Yu  Chou,  the 
helper  at  the  store,  an  educated  fellow,  was  struck  by  the 
uncommon  look  of  the  characters  and  was  led  to  ask  who 
had  written  them.  The  eunuch  replied,  "  The  Emperor." 
**  Indeed,"  said  Wang,  "  to-day  the  women  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  China  have  presented  the  Empress  Dowager  with 
a  copy  of  the  New  Testament."  "  Yes,"  answered  the 
eunuch,  "  the  Emperor  has  seen  it,  and  now  wishes  to  see 
copies  of  the  books  of  the  Jesus  religion."  When  the  books 
were  got  ready  and  were  paid  for,  Wang  secretly  took  the 
slip  of  paper  and  laid  it  away  on  one  of  the  shelves,  but  the 
eunuch  soon  missed  it  and  he  was  in  a  great  state  until  it 
was  returned  to  him,  when  he  said,  "  It  will  never  do  for 
me  to  lose  the  Emperor's  order." 

The  approach  of  the  storm  was  also  felt  before  it  broke 
by  the  Society's  colporteurs.  In  1899  some  of  our  men 
were  beaten  and  robbed  by  rowdies  in  Shantung.  In  West 
China,  at  a  river  mart  on  the  borders  of  the  Kansuh  and 
Shensi  provinces,  three  of  our  men  were  tied  up  by  their 
thumbs  to  trees  and  beaten  with  sticks  while  the  crowd 
gathered  and  called  out  to  them  that  Jesus  was  crucified 
on  a  tree  and  they  were  going  to  do  the  same  with  them. 
Our  Superintendent  in  West  China  wrote :     '*  After  they 


496  WHITE  ELEPHANT  AND  DRAGON    [1891- 

had  beaten  them  till  their  bodies  were  covered  all  over  with 
marks  and  wounds,  and  their  wrists  and  ankles  were  cut  and 
lacerated  with  the  ropes  that  bound  them  to  the  trees,  they 
were  allowed  to  hang  under  the  scorching  heat  of  a  July 
sun  until  the  darkness  came  when  they  were  eventually 
taken  down  by  the  inn-keeper,  who  got  a  few  friends  to 
intercede  with  the  mob  to  release  them.  One  of  them,  a 
young  converted  Taoist  priest,  was  not  able  to  speak  until 
the  next  day ;  he  was  so  overcome."  This  was  before  the 
outbreak.  During  the  Boxer  rebellion  our  Agent  visited 
Peking  to  investigate,  and  after  consultation  with  the 
American  Minister  decided,  acting  on  his  advice,  that  our 
men  should  go  out  as  usual  on  their  book-selling  tours,  but 
that  they  should  be  warned  to  keep  away  from  the  disturbed 
district.  The  Agent  writes :  "  They  were  warned  of  the 
risk  they  were  running,  but  not  a  man  of  the  noble  band 
of  eighteen  flinched.  Their  reply  was,  '  We  go.  God's  will 
be  done.*  Only  four  of  the  eighteen  returned.  We  shall 
probably  never  know  how  some  of  them  obtained  the 
martyr's  crown,  but  we  are  sure  that  they  died  '  witnessing 
a  good  confession,'  and  that  they  were  worthy  of  a  place 
among  those  who  were  '  slain  for  the  word  of  God,  and  for 
the  testimony  which  they  held.'  So  far  as  can  be  ascer- 
tained, the  homes  of  these  martyrs  were  looted  and  burned 
and  their  families  exterminated.  Those  who  survived  es- 
caped to  the  mountains,  where  they  suffered  terrible  priva- 
tions. One  of  them,  Mr.  Wang,  was  chased  by  the  Boxers 
and  so  badly  injured  that  it  took  him  months  to  recover. 
Another,  Mr.  Wen,  had  his  wife  and  two  children  killed. 
Of  the  colporteurs  under  missionary  supervision,  not  one 
escaped.  Some  of  our  men,  knowing  where  the  native 
Christians  were  living,  heroically  went  out  of  their  way  to 
warn  them  of  the  impending  danger."  It  is  also  an  inter- 
esting fact  that  the  guide  of  the  allied  troops  from  Tientsin 
to  Peking  that  relieved  the  besieged  legations  was  Mr.  C.  F. 
Gammon,  the  Sub-Agent  of  the  Society  in  North  China. 

During  all  this  time  the  work  of  translation  went  forward 
undisturbed  by  famines,  floods  or  revolution.  Three  re- 
vision committees  called  for  by  the  Missionary  Conference 
of  1890  were  selected  and  organised.     Colloquial  translations 


I9i6]  TRANSLATION  AND  REVISION  497 

were  added  to  and  perfected.  The  whole  Bible  was  brought 
out  in  the  Canton  colloquial.  The  Shanghai  colloquial 
New  Testament  was  revised.  The  Hinghua  colloquial  was 
brought  out  in  Roman  letters.  Certain  of  the  Gospels  were 
published  in  the  Shantung  colloquial.  The  Gospels  were 
translated  into  the  Sam  kiong  colloquial  by  Miss  Eleanor 
Chestnut,  M.D.,  one  of  the  martyrs  who  was  massacred  at 
Lienchow.  Work  was  also  forwarded  in  the  Soochow 
colloquial  and,  sixty  years  after  the  first  book  was  finished, 
the  translation  of  the  whole  Bible  into  the  Shanghai 
colloquial  was  finished  on  the  6th  of  August,  1906.  These 
colloquials  serve  a  great  purpose,  the  language  in  the  differ- 
ent provinces  of  China  varying  almost  as  much  as  in  the 
various  countries  of  Europe. 

The  three  revision  committees  were  at  work,  however, 
on  the  Mandarin,  the  High  Wenli  and  the  Easy  Wenli,  the 
literary  and  more  universal  languages  of  the  nation.  At  the 
great  Missionary  Conference  in  1907  in  which  was  cele- 
brated the  completion  of  the  centennial  of  Protestant  mis- 
sionary effort  in  China,  to  which  Conference  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Fox,  one  of  the  Corresponding  Secretaries  of  the  Society, 
was  sent  as  a  delegate,  it  was  unanimously  decided  to  unite 
the  High  Wenli  and  the  Easy  Wenli  and  make  provision 
for  only  one  Wenli  version.  Now  as  our  century  draws 
to  its  close,  the  Union  revision  committees  in  which  the 
three  Bible  Societies :  the  British  and  Foreign,  the  National 
Bible  Society  of  Scotland,  and  the  American  Society,  are 
approaching  the  end  of  their  work.  It  is  expected  that  both 
revisions  will  be  completed  in  1916.^ 

Separate  and  distinct  from  the  colloquial  versions  and  the 
Committee  versions  stands  out  the  work  of  Bishop  Scher- 
eschewsky.  It  is  one  of  the  distinctions  of  the  American 
Bible  Society  that  it  has  had  fellowship  with  this  remarkable 
man.  Samuel  Isaac  Joseph  Schereschewsky  was  born  May 
23rd,  183 1,  in  the  town  of  Tauroggen,  in  Russian  Lithuania. 
His  parents  were  Jews.  He  must  have  been  a  very  pre- 
cocious child,  for  at  the  age  of  seventeen  he  was  engaged  as 
tutor  in  a  Russian  family  and  at  eighteen  he  wrote  poetry  in 

^  1  We  have  placed  in  the  Appendix  the  complete  list  of  the  Mis- 
sionary scholars  who  have  accomplished  these  tasks. 


498  WHITE  ELEPHANT  AND  DRAGON    [1891- 

Hebrew.  About  this  time  he  left  Russia  and  spent  a  num- 
ber of  years  in  Europe,  principally  in  study.  In  1854  he 
came  to  the  United  States,  where  he  embraced  Christianity 
and  became  a  student  at  the  General  Theological  Seminary 
in  New  York.  On  graduation  he  was  asked  if  he  would 
accept  a  Professorship  in  the  Seminary,  a  position  for  which 
he  was  peculiarly  qualified.  He  replied  that  he  would  not 
and  said  that  he  intended  to  go  to  China  as  a  missionary. 
Plis  friends  much  surprised  said,**  What !  Do  you  prefer 
to  go  to  that  country  and  bury  your  talents?  "  The  answer 
was,  "  I  want  to  go  to  China  to  translate  the  Bible."  He 
was  appointed  a  missionary  to  China  and  arrived  in  Shang- 
hai in  company  with  the  venerable  Archdeacon  Thomson  in 
1859.  During  the  long  voyage  from  New  York  the  new 
missionaries  studied  Chinese  under  Senior  Bishop  Boone, 
who  was  returning  to  China,  and  Mr.  Schereschewsky's 
progress  was  so  marked  and  rapid,  that  not  one  could  keep 
pace  with  him.  When  he  arrived  in  Shanghai  he  aston- 
ished the  native  teachers  by  being  able  to  write  good  classical 
composition.  He  remained  in  Shanghai  two  years,  studied 
the  Shanghai  colloquial.  Mandarin  and  classic  Chinese,  and 
then  moved  to  Peking.  In  1875  he  returned  to  the  United 
States  on  furlough.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  he 
was  appointed  by  the  House  of  Bishops  to  the  Bishopric  of 
Shanghai,  but  declined.  He  was  again  appointed  in  1876, 
and  after  much  doubt  and  hesitation  finally  accepted  and 
was  consecrated  in  Grace  Church,  New  York,  October  3rd, 
1877. 

For  forty  years  until  his  coronation  on  the  15th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1908,  in  his  seventy-seventh  year,  he  devoted  himself 
almost  exclusively  to  Bible  translation.  All  of  his  work  he 
did  for  the  American  Bible  Society.  He  translated  the 
Book  of  Genesis  into  Mandarin  as  early  as  1866.  He  was 
one  of  the  Committee  which  translated  the  Mandarin  New 
Testament  first  published  in  1872.  He  translated  the  whole 
of  the  Old  Testament  into  Mandarin,  and  this  version  has 
had  no  rival  for  forty-one  years.  He  produced  the  first 
version  of  the  whole  Bible  in  Easy  Wenli,  and  to  him  be- 
longs the  honour  of  making  the  first  reference  Bibles  — 
Mandarin  and  Easy  Wenli  —  in  the  Chinese  language. 


BISHOP   SCHERESCHEWSKI 


I9i6]  SOWING  THE  GOOD  SEED  499 

Eight  years  of  the  Bishop's  Hfe  he  spent  in  the  United 
States  in  making  the  simple  or  Easy  WenH  translations  and 
revised  his  Mandarin  Old  Testament.  He  had  no  Chinese 
assistant,  and  though  quite  capable  of  writing  Chinese  char- 
acters himself,  he  was  unable  to  hold  a  pen  in  his  partially 
paralysed  fingers.  He,  therefore,  wrote  the  entire  text  of 
his  Wenli  Bible  and  the  notes  for  his  revision  of  the  Man- 
darin Old  Testament  in  the  Roman  letter  on  a  typewriter, 
using  only  the  middle  finger  of  each  hand.  He  often  face- 
tiously refers  to  this  Easy  Wenli  as  '*  a  Two  Finger  Bible." 

It  seems  to  us  as  though  the  record  of  heaven  will  be 
that  he  was  a  living  martyr  to  the  great  cause  of  Bible  trans- 
lation. The  story  of  his  life  is  one  of  the  romances  of  the 
history  of  the  Bible. 

What  of  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  all  through  this 
turbulent  period  ?  Strangely  enough,  it  is  almost  a  common- 
place in  the  history  of  the  Society,  that  wars  and  rumours 
of  wars  and  tumults  and  revolutions  do  not  seriously  set 
back  the  sowing  of  the  good  seed  of  the  Kingdom.  They 
seem,  however,  to  be  like  divine  ploughshares  opening  up  the 
soil  for  the  reception  of  the  seed. 

In  1894  there  was  a  great  distribution  of  the  Scriptures 
among  the  students  of  Nanking  gathered  for  their  triennial 
examinations.  Four  thousand  New  Testaments  and  25,000 
Portions  were  distributed  among  these  men ;  three  Bible 
Societies  uniting  in  the  work  at  the  request  of  the  Nanking 
missionaries.  Two  years  later  the  Agent  writes  — "  the 
demand  is  without  precedent."  The  entire  circulation 
amounted  to  400,916  volumes,  98  per  cent,  of  which  were 
sold ;  at  prices,  however,  less  than  the  cost  of  manufacture. 
In  1898  he  writes,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the 
Agency,  more  than  half  a  million  copies  have  been  issued  in 
one  year  in  thirty-three  different  languages  or  dialects  and 
they  have  been  circulated  in  almost  every  one  of  the  eight- 
een Provinces.  The  coup  d'etat  of  the  Empress  in  1898 
materially  checked  the  sales  of  the  Scriptures,  but  after  the 
Boxer  rebellion  the  demand  increased  and  new  applications 
came  to  the  depositories  for  the  Scriptures.  In  1901  a 
Chinese  professor  in  a  Government  School  wrote  for  fifty 
English  Bibles  for  the  use  of  his  students.     In  his  letter  he 


500  WHITE  ELEPHANT  AND  DRAGON    [1891- 

says :  "  The  school  is  one  of  those  established  by  the 
Chinese  Government  for  educating  young  men  in  Western 
knowledge  to  be  employed  in  its  service  in  after  life.  It 
has  been  in  existence  over  thirty  years  and  I  have  been  in 
charge  of  the  English  Department  for  the  last  twenty-seven 
years.  My  old  scholars  are  now  scattered  all  over  the 
world  in  the  Government  service  in  the  capacity  of  trans- 
lators, interpreters,  and  teachers  in  English,  but  in  one  re- 
spect I  have  often  felt  that  I  have  not  done  my  duty  to  them, 
their  religious  training.  When  I  speak  of  God,  honesty, 
patriotism,  etc.,  to  my  scholars,  their  eyes  sparkle.  Yes, 
there  is  hope  for  China  and  it  lies  in  the  young.  The  Bible 
has  done  good  for  every  country  and  it  will  do  good  for 
China.  I  have  thought  upon  the  present  condition  of  poor 
China  over  and  over  again  and  always  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  we  need  the  Bible  more  than  anything;  — 
guns,  machinery,  and  what  not ;  so  I  have  made  application 
to  you  and  you  have  responded  in  true  American  style.  I 
need  say  no  more  except  to  beg  you  to  convey  to  the  Bible 
Society  my  most  heart-felt  thanks  for  the  gift  and  to  inform 
you  that  this  gift  will  be  greatly  appreciated  by  the  recipients, 
who  actually  begged  me  to  get  the  Bible  for  them.  It  is  the 
greatest  book.     It  is  the  miracle  of  the  world." 

So  vast  a  field  as  China  could  not  be  administered  from 
the  headquarters  in  Shanghai  alone.  Dr.  Hykes  has  been 
assisted  in  his  work  by  sub-agents  resident,  one  in  the  capitol 
at  Peking,  now  in  charge  of  the  Rev.  W.  S.  Strong,  to  whom 
was  granted  the  unique  privilege  on  New  Year's  Day,  1913, 
of  selling  the  Scriptures  on  the  balcony  of  the  Temple  of 
Heaven,  directly  opposite  the  main  entrance.  This  was  the 
first  time  any  one  had  official  permission  to  sell  Bibles  or 
preach  the  gospel  from  this  sacred  place.  At  one  of  the 
great  fairs  in  Peking  Mr.  Strong  sold  on  an  average  more 
than  1,000  copies  a  day  for  twelve  days.  In  Nanking  Rev. 
James  Moyes  superintends  work  in  two  provinces.  Further 
up  the  River  of  the  Yangtse  the  Rev.  F.  C.  Crouse,  of  Kiu- 
kiang,  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made,  has  charge 
of  colportage  in  parts  of  two  provinces.  At  Hankow,  the 
manufacturing  centre  of  China,  the  Rev.  Godfrey  Hirst 
looks  after  distribution  through  three  provinces.     Further 


igi6]    VOLUNTARY  CHRISTIAN  WORKERS       501 

on  up  this  wonderful  river  at  Changsha,  the  Rev.  W.  S. 
ElHott  has  charge  of  the  Hunan  province,  and  above  the 
rapids  in  Szechuan,  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Hooker  is  stationed  at 
Chungking,  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  Torrance  is  stationed  at 
Chengtu.  In  the  South,  at  Canton,  the  Rev.  Alfred  Alf 
cares  for  two  provinces  and  has  a  very  interesting  work 
among  the  immense  boat  population  of  that  most  character- 
istic Chinese  city. 

During  Dr.  Hykes  first  furlough  in  the  United  States  in 
1903,  the  Rev.  H.  V.  S.  Myers,  assistant  to  the  Agent,  had 
charge  of  the  Society's  afifairs ;  Mr.  Charles  F.  Gammon, 
who  had  been  Superintendent  of  colporteurs  in  North 
China,  assisted  Mr.  Myers.  Rev.  W.  W.  Cameron,  to  whose 
work  in  Siam  we  have  already  referred,  has  also  had  care 
of  the  Society's  affairs  once  or  twice  when  Dr.  Hykes  was 
out  of  China  and  is  now  helping  at  the  headquarters  in 
Shanghai. 

A  notable  feature  of  the  present  is  the  large  number  of 
Scriptures  sold  by  voluntary  Christian  workers.  In  all  there 
were  462  different  men  engaged  in  this  voluntary  distribu- 
tion during  the  year  1914  under  strict  and  efficient  super- 
vision, some  devoting  a  few  days  or  weeks  and  others  a 
longer  time  to  this  work.  This  is  a  new  departure  and  has 
helped  to  relieve  the  embarrassment  occasioned  by  reduced 
appropriations.  In  addition  to  these  voluntary  workers  the 
Society  has  eighty-seven  paid  native  colporteurs  directly 
under  the  Sub-Agents  and  forty-eight  under  the  oversight 
of  missionaries  in  their  respective  fields,  besides  forty-one 
under  missionaries  reporting  direct  to  the  Agency,  a  total  of 
176  native  colporteurs,  in  addition  to  the  462  voluntary 
workers.  Some  idea  of  this  service  may  be  gained  from  the 
statement  that  the  colporteurs  spent  altogether  42,694  days 
in  one  year  in  distributing  the  Scriptures ;  travelled  225,258 
miles,  and  visited  28,453  different  towns  and  villages. 

In  the  first  forty-two  years,  when  the  work  was  under  the 
care  and  direction  of  the  missionaries,  the  circulation 
amounted  to  1,300,500  books.  During  the  first  eighteen 
years  under  the  Agency  the  distribution  was  3,052,688 
copies,  or  over  twice  the  number  in  three-sevenths  of  the 
time.     In  the  twenty-one  years  since  the  appointment  of 


502  SIAM  AND  CHINA  [1891-1916 

Dr.  Hykes,  the  Agency  distributed  14,318,127  volumes,^ 
more  than  three  times  the  entire  distribution  of  the  previous 
sixty  years.  It  is  also  suggestive  as  showing  the  wonderful 
transformation  which  has  taken  place  since  1908,  that  the 
circulation  for  the  past  six  years  (1909  to  1914  inclusive) 
was  just  double  the  total  distribution  of  the  first  sixty  years 
and  the  sales  for  1914  were  50  per  cent,  more  than  the  entire 
distribution  for  the  forty  years  under  the  missionaries.  And 
now  the  statement  comes  as  this  chapter  is  going  through 
the  press  that  the  circulation  for  191 5  reaches  the  amazing 
total  of  2,244,746  volumes. 

Altogether  the  Society  has  published  fourteen  versions 
which  were  made  for  it  and  has  assisted  in  the  translation 
of  five  others.     It  has  circulated  20,916,061  volumes. 

As  Dr.  Hykes  says  in  the  close  of  his  review  of  eighty- 
two  years,  "  the  value  of  its  work  cannot  be  over-estimated. 
It  certainly  has  been  one  of  the  potent  factors  in  bringing 
about  the  transformation  in  this  ancient  country,  which  has 
astonished  the  world.  It  will  continue  to  scatter  the  leaves 
which  are  for  its  healing  until  the  Chinese  Church  has  its 
own  Bible  Society,  produces  new  and  improved  versions  of 
the  Scriptures  and  circulates  them  among  their  own  people." 

1  If  we  add  the  figures  for  1915,  just  received,  this  should  be 
16,562,873  in  22  years. 


CHAPTER  LV 

AMERICA  IN  THE  ORIENT 

The  lure  of  islands  is,  we  believe,  as  old  as  the  human 
race.  There  is  something  about  a  body  of  land  all  sur- 
rounded by  water  that  is  irresistible.  Sancho  Panza's  state- 
ment to  his  wife  is  true  of  nations  as  well  as  individuals: 
**  Troth,  wife,"  quoth  Sancho,  '*  were  I  not  in  hopes  to  see 
myself  ere  long  governor  of  an  island,  on  my  conscience  I 
should  not  stir  one  inch  from  my  own  home."  In  the  war 
with  Spain,  undertaken  for  the  rescue  of  the  liberties  of  one 
island,  the  United  States  not  only  secured  another  in  the 
Atlantic,  but,  to  its  great  astonishment,  a  whole  archipelago 
in  the  distant  waters  of  the  Pacific. 

The  thunder  of  Dewey's  guns  in  Manila  Bay  had  not  died 
away  before  the  Bible  Society,  alert  and  eager,  cabled  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Hykes,  its  Agent  in  China,  May  14th,  1898,  to 
improve  any  opportunity  that  should  offer  for  sending  Scrip- 
tures to  the  Islands.  In  September  of  the  same  year  he 
was  instructed  to  visit  Manila  for  the  sake  of  preliminary 
inquiries  about  any  possible  opening  there  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  Scriptures. 

Dr.  Hykes'  report  is  a  classic.  It  gave  a  graphic  survey 
of  the  social  and  religious  conditions  in  those  Islands  eight- 
een years  ago.  It  was  circulated  very  widely  throughout 
the  United  States.  It  was  received  with  unusual  interest 
by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  and  by  other 
leaders  of  the  Government  in  Washington.  We  cannot  do 
better  than  present  here  brief  quotations  from  Dr.  Hykes' 
report :  "  As  soon  as  the  ship  came  to  anchor  in  Manila 
Bay  we  were  made  aware  that  we  were  in  an  American  port 
and  that  it  was  under  military  rule.  An  army  surgeon 
boarded  the  ship  as  health  officer,  and  the  customs  official 
was  a  soldier  in  uniform.  I  secured  the  last  room  in  the 
Hotel  de  Oriente,   a   commodious   and   fairly   comfortable 

503 


504  AMERICA  IN  THE  ORIENT  [1891- 

Spanish  hotel.  This  is  the  hotel  in  which  Lallave,  a  colpor- 
teur sent  to  Manila  in  1889  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  was  poisoned  shortly  after  his  arrival. 

"  The  Philippine  group  consists  of  more  than  1400 
islands,^  the  majority  of  which  are  mere  islets  or  rocks  pro- 
jecting out  of  the  sea.  The  total  area  is  about  equal  to  that 
of  New  England,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and 
Maryland.  The  population  is  variously  estimated  at  from 
8,000,000  to  10,000,000,  of  which  number  about  one-half 
are  domesticated  natives.  The  remainder  is  made  up  of 
independent  hill  tribes.  Mestizos,  Spaniards,  and  a  few  Euro- 
peans and  Americans. 

''  Before  the  war  there  were  60,000  Spanish  officials, 
friars,  and  soldiers  in  the  islands.  The  Spanish  half-breeds 
and  Creoles  form  a  distinct  class  as  well  as  an  influential  one. 
Among  the  native  population  the  Tagals  are  the  principal 
tribe  in  Luzon  and  the  Visayans  in  the  southern  islands.  In 
the  mountains  of  nearly  every  one  of  the  inhabited  islands 
native  races  are  to  be  met  which  are  supposed  to  be  the 
aboriginal  inhabitants.  The  Negritos  are  to  be  found  in 
most  of  the  islands.  The  Igorrotes  are  the  chief  mountain 
tribe  in  Luzon.  They  are  perhaps  the  best  of  the  aboriginal 
races." 

Dr.  Hykes  describes  in  detail,  which  it  is  not  possible  to 
reproduce  here,  the  effect  "  of  more  than  three  centuries  of 
Spanish  rule  in  civilising  and  enlightening  the  native  races." 
He  talked  with  men  of  all  classes,  some  of  whom  had  been 
in  the  Philippines  for  more  than  twenty-five  years,  and 
he  was  convinced  that  ^'sacerdotal  despotism  and  official 
rapacity  were  alone  responsible  for  the  rebellion."  The 
governors  monopolised  the  trade  of  their  districts,  they  fixed 
their  own  purchasing  price  and  sold  at  current  market  rates. 
No  conscience  was  shown  by  any  officer  in  his  rigorous 
exactions  from  the  natives.  Men  and  women  were  arrested 
merely  on  a  suspicion  expressed  by  a  single  individual, 
thrown  into  prison  without  even  the  formality  of  a  hearing, 
and  allowed  to  remain  there  for  years  without  a  trial.  There 
was  no  such  thing  as  trial  by  jury,  no  writ  of  habeas  corpus, 
no  right  of  appeal.     When  the  United  States  troops  took 

1  Now  said  to  be  3000. 


I9i6]  UNDER  SPANISH  RULE  505 

Manila  there  were  2900  prisoners  in  the  jails.  An  investi- 
gation was  instituted,  and  the  result  was  11 00  were  released. 
The  clerical  and  secular  rivalries  formed  one  of  the  disgrace- 
ful pages  in  the  history  of  the  Islands.  The  friars  often 
usurped  civil  authority  and  openly  defied  the  civil  governors. 

"  The  exactions  and  iniquities  of  the  friars  are  the  sub- 
jects of  common  conversation.  Every  event  in  a  man's  life 
is  made  an  excuse  for  getting  a  fee.  The  fees  in  one  ceme- 
tery amounted  to  more  than  $50,000  every  five  years.  The 
fees  of  the  church  near  the  hotel  at  which  I  was  stopping 
amounted  to  $100,000  per  annum.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  write 
these  things,  but  it  is  necessary  that  you  may  understand 
the  conditions  in  these  islands.  I  am  sure  that  the  Roman 
Catholics  in  the  United  States  would  be  as  much  shocked 
as  anybody  at  the  immorality  of  these  friars.  The  mass  of 
the  people  are  painfully  ignorant  in  religious  matters.  I 
think  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more  needy  field.  The 
people  are  and  have  been  without  the  Bible.  They  know 
there  is  such  a  book,  and  that  is  about  all. 

"  Under  Spanish  rule  it  was  impossible  for  the  Bible  Socie- 
ties to  do  any  work  in  the  Philippines.  An  attempt  was 
made  in  1889  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 
which  in  March  of  that  year  sent  two  colporteurs,  M.  Alonzo 
Lallave  and  F.  deP.  Castells,  to  Manila  to  try  and  distribute 
the  Word  of  God.  Shortly  after  their  arrival  and  after  dis- 
tributing a  few  copies  of  Scriptures  they  were  poisoned  in 
the  Hotel  de  Oriente,  at  which  they  were  stopping.  While 
I  was  in  Manila  I  met  an  old  resident  who  told  me  he  knew 
Lallave,  who  had  formerly  been  a  Roman  Catholic  priest  in 
the  Philippines,  and  he  spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of  his 
sterling  character.  This  gentleman  also  told  me  that  the 
hatred  of  the  priests  toward  Lallave  was  so  bitter  that  his 
body  was  refused  burial  and  lay  for  several  days  in  the  ceme- 
tery until  it  was  in  an  advanced  stage  of  decomposition. 
Castells  did  not  die  from  the  effects  of  his  poisoning,  but  was 
thrown  into  prison,  at  the  instigation  of  the  priests,  and 
afterward  banished  from  the  islands." 

This  report  was  so  startling  that  the  Society  immediately 
determined  upon  the  appointment  of  an  agent  for  this  new 
field. 


5o6  AMERICA  IN  THE  ORIENT  [1891- 

In  1822,  as  has  been  already  stated  in  a  previous  chapter, 
Scriptures  had  been  sent  out  by  the  Society  to  the  PhiUppines 
through  ships  saiHng  around  Cape  Horn,  and  had  been  circu- 
lated in  the  harbours  of  the  southern  islands.  Little  was  it 
imagined  at  that  time  that  an  agency  for  the  translation  and 
publication  and  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  would  be  estab- 
lished in  these  lands. 

The  Rev.  J.  C.  Goodrich,  B.D.,  just  graduated  from  the 
Drew  Theological  Seminary,  Madison,  New  Jersey,  was 
chosen  for  this  field.  Under  appointment  of  the  Society, 
in  the  late  summer,  he  left  New  York  with  his  wife,  via 
London  and  the  Suez  canal,  for  his  new  home.  He  arrived 
in  Manila  November  26th,  1899,  and  at  once  entered  upon 
his  labours. 

The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  had  been  no  less 
active  in  seizing  the  opportunity  of  the  opening  of  the  Philip- 
pines to  carry  forward  the  high  purposes  with  which  they 
had  sent  out  their  colporteurs  ten  years  before.  They  ap- 
pointed a  representative  who  went  from  Singapore  and 
opened  an  office  in  Manila. 

Our  agent  and  their  representative,  realising  the  magni- 
tude of  the  work  before  them,  agreed  upon  a  programme  of 
co-operation  which  was  supported  by  the  offices  in  New 
York  and  London.  One  of  the  peculiar  problems  that  faced 
Mr.  Goodrich  and  his  co-labourer  was  that  of  reaching  the 
people  in  their  native  tongues.  Some  years  before,  a 
traveller,  leisurely  enjoying  days  in  Spain,  came  in  old  Valla- 
dolid  to  a  quiet  ecclesiastical  establishment  that  was  the  Mis- 
sion House  for  the  Philippines.  In  a  conversation  with  the 
ecclesiastic  in  charge  that  benignant  gentleman  told  the 
traveller  that  their  missionaries  had  "  taught  the  Filipinos 
Castilian  and  the  adoration  of  the  Virgin,  and  that  ought 
to  content  any  people."  Our  Agent  found,  however,  that 
only  a  trifling  percentage  of  the  people  of  these  islands  knew 
Castilian  and,  if  any  real  progress  was  to  be  made  in  reach- 
ing them  with  the  story  of  the  gospel,  it  would  have  to  be 
put  into  their  native  dialects. 

Here  was  a  difficulty.  There  were  no  missionaries  in  the 
islands  who  had  been  there  long  resident  and  had  acquired 
a  knowledge  of  these  dialects  and  who  were  also  familiar 


igi6]  VERSIONS  FOR  FILIPINOS  507 

with  the  Scriptures  in  their  original  tongues.  It  had  been 
the  general  rule  of  the  Society,  under  the  advice  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Versions,  to  approve  for  publication  and  distribu- 
tion only  such  versions  as  were  made,  in  the  New  Testament 
from  the  Greek,  and  in  the  Old  Testament  from  the  Hebrew, 
and  made  by  scholars  capable  of  conveying  these  originals 
into  the  new  dialects.  To  meet  the  exigency,  which  was  a 
very  real  one,  the  Society  departed  from  its  custom  and 
authorised  its  Agent  to  secure  the  best  possible  translations 
of  the  Gospels,  in  particular,  into  the  principal  dialects,  using 
as  the  original  either  the  Spanish  version  or  the  English 
Bible,  especially  the  American  Standard  Revised  version, 
which  had  just  been  issued  and  was  recognised  as  an  un- 
usually faithful  translation  of  the  originals. 

The  number  of  dialects  needing  time  to  be  brought  into 
subjection  to  the  gospel  were  many.  There  were  said  to  be 
upward  of  seventy-five  dialects  in  the  islands,  which  could 
be  reasonably  grouped  into  twelve  or  thirteen  families  of 
languages.  Instructions  were  given  to  begin  work  in  the 
more  important,  and  in  order  to  economise  energy  a  tempo- 
rary arrangement  was  made  with  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  by  which  the  American  Bible  Society  should 
take  certain  of  the  dialects  and  that  Society  others. 

Already  by  an  unusual  Providence  portions  of  the  New 
Testament  had  been  translated  by  the  Rev.  Eric  Lund,  a 
Baptist  missionary  working  in  Spain,  with  the  assistance  of 
a  Filipino  convert ;  and  Lallave  had  translated  the  Gospel  of 
St.  Luke  into  Pangasinan.  Certain  of  these  Scriptures  were 
at  Singapore  and  were  immediately  available.  In  the  mutual 
adjustment  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  continued 
its  work,  already  begun,  and  became  responsible  for  the  fol- 
lowing languages :  Tagalog,  the  principal  dialect  of  the 
islands,  Pangasinan,  and  Bicol.  And  the  American  Bible 
Society  undertook  its  work  in  the  following:  Pampangan, 
Visayan  (Visayan  de  Iloilo,  later  called  Panayan),  Cebuan 
(Visayan  de  Cebu),  Zambal,  and  Ilocano. 

The  conquest  of  these  languages  has  gone  on,  and  now, 
after  nearly  twenty  years,  the  whole  Bible  has  been  trans- 
lated and  printed  in  the  following  languages:  Tagalog, 
Pangasinan,  Bicol,  Ilocano,  Pampangan,  Panayan ;  the  New 


5o8  AMERICA  IN  THE  ORIENT  [1891- 

Testament  in  the  following  additional  languages :  Ibanag, 
Cebuan ;  and  certain  portions  of  the  Scriptures  have  been 
translated  into  the  following  additional  dialects:  Igorrote, 
Ifugao;  and  beginnings  have  been  made  in  Moro,  Moro 
Lanao,  and  Samareno. 

With  the  extensive  development  of  the  American  school 
system  throughout  the  islands,  in  which  there  are  now  over 
500,000  children,  who  are  all  of  them  becoming  used  to  the 
English  language,  and  with  the  percentage  that  still  speak 
the  Spanish,  the  use  of  these  dialect  Scriptures  may  some- 
time pass  away.  But  the  Word  of  Truth  already  introduced 
into  these  languages  has  been  as  a  cup  of  cold  water  to  mil- 
lions of  souls  that  would  otherwise  never  have  tasted  of  the 
Water  of  Life. 

For  five  years  from  the  30th  of  November,  1899,  Mr. 
Goodrich  was  in  charge  of  the  Agency  of  the  Philippines. 
Progress  was  made  in  translation,  in  publication,  and  in  the 
circulation  of  the  Scriptures  among  the  people.  The  print- 
ing was  done  largely  in  Japan  where  labour  and  material 
were  better  and  cheaper.  The  lack  of  roads,  the  danger  of 
highway  robbers,  the  islands  widely  separated  by  great  in- 
land seas, —  all  made  the  work  of  circulation  difficult.  One 
of  the  colporteurs,  Mr.  Gugin,  starting  out  on  a  colportage 
tour,  was  never  seen  again.  His  books  were  found,  but  no 
information  could  be  gathered  as  to  his  death  or  what  had 
become  of  his  body.  Mr.  Bear,  another  of  the  colporteurs 
of  those  early  days,  was  attacked  by  the  cholera  early  one 
morning  and  died  in  the  evening. 

Encouragement,  however,  to  press  on  the  work  comes 
from  statements  like  those  made  by  the  missionaries  who 
were  now  penetrating  the  islands. 

The  Rev.  James  B.  Rodgers,  missionary  of  the  Presby- 
terian Board,  of  Manila,  says:  '*  We  find  in  many  places 
that  the  colporteurs  are  the  real  pioneers.  Because,  in  a 
great  measure,  of  their  scattering  of  the  printed  Word  we 
gain  an  entrance  into  towns  which  would  otherwise  be  diffi- 
cult to  reach." 

The  Rev.  Homer  C.  Stuntz,  Superintendent,  at  that  time, 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Missions  in  the  Philippines,  now 
one  of  the  Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  said: 


I9i6]  BIBLE  CIRCULATION  GROWS  509 

"  If  the  Bible  Society  did  not  exist,  one-half  the  time  of  our 
own  missionary  staff  would  need  to  be  devoted  to  this  pio- 
neer work  of  translating  and  distributing  the  Word  of  God." 
He  mentions  an  instance  where  an  old  lady,  a  devout  Roman 
Catholic,  visited  a  chapel,  was  interested  in  what  she  heard, 
bought  a  New  Testament,  carried  it  back  with  her  to  her 
home  in  Malolos ;  and  this  one  copy  of  the  Scripture  led,  by 
the  blessing  of  God,  to  the  establishment  of  three  churches, 
in  which  in  1905  there  were  400  members. 

The  development  of  the  Independent  or  Aglipay  Church 
movement  led  to  a  lively  demand  for  Scriptures,  both  among 
the  clergy  and  the  common  people.  The  towns  and  villages 
were  curious  to  see  the  Scriptures  in  their  own  dialects. 
Sales  at  first  were  rapid.  People  leaped  for  the  Scriptures 
as  fish  in  an  unfished  trout  pool  would  leap  for  a  fly. 


The  circulation  for  the 

yeai 

-  1899  was 

888 

For 

1900 

10,873 

For 

1901 

52,793 

For 

1902 

91,260 

For 

1903 

116,586 

For 

1904 

108,354 

Making  a  total  of  380,754 

volumes  circulated  in  the  five  years  and  one  month  of  Mr. 
Goodrich's  service  in  the  islands.  When  one  considers  that 
this  was  in  a  country  where  the  Scriptures  were  unknown 
for  three  hundred  years,  there  is  cause  for  great  rejoicing. 

While  Mr.  Goodrich  was  on  furlough  the  Rev.  George  A. 
Miller  was  in  charge,  and  on  Mr.  Goodrich's  desire  to  enter 
the  pastorate  in  America  the  Rev.  J.  L.  McLaughlin,  who 
had  already  spent  five  years  in  the  islands  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Mission,  was  appointed  Agent.  Under  his  care 
the  translation  work  has  gone  on  rapidly. 

One  of  the  special  publications  was  a  transliterated  ver- 
sion of  the  Bible  in  Panayan,  prepared  for  the  Society  in 
co-operation  with  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union, 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Eric  Lund,  the  veteran  translator,  whose 
work  in  Spain  was  ready   for  use  in  the  islands  at  the 


510  AMERICA  IN  THE  ORIENT  [1891- 

opening  of  mission  work  there.  This  version  is  being  used 
by  Presbyterian  and  Baptist  missionaries  in  Iloilo  and  the 
regions  round  about. 

After  ten  years'  work  in  the  islands  nearly  a  million  vol- 
umes were  put  into  circulation  by  the  American  Bible  So- 
ciety and  about  700,000  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society.  These  were  distributed  among  the  six  or  seven 
millions  of  people  in  the  islands,  and  the  Agent  writes: 
''  Probably  all  sincerely  desiring  a  portion  of  the  Scriptures 
have  already  been  supplied."  Now  a  desire  must  be  created 
where  none  exists.  Ordinary  means  cannot  carry  and  plant 
the  seed  of  the  Word  in  the  places  where  it  should  be  planted. 

Fertile  in  expedients,  in  addition  to  the  regular  colportage 
and  the  sending  of  special  colporteurs  on  long  and  arduous 
journeys  into  regions  never  before  visited,  and  to  co-opera- 
tion with  the  missionaries  and  the  growing  native  ministry, 
a  novel  scheme  was  invented  to  break  down  the  indifference 
and  bigotry  of  many  communities. 

The  cockpit  is  an  institution  all  over  the  Philippines.  In 
the  midst  of  the  nippa  houses  that  make  the  interesting 
barrios  and  larger  communities  the  cockpit,  itself  a  nippa 
structure,  rises  like  a  Town  Hall  in  a  New  England  village. 
Thatch-roofed,  it  covers  two  or  three  open  areas  where  the 
people  congregate,  in  one  of  which  the  excitement  surpasses 
belief  as  the  crowd  watches  the  feathered  creatures  fight  for 
victory.  Into  these  towns,  in  an  automobile  prepared  espe- 
cially for  the  purpose,  the  Agent  goes.  All  about  through 
the  village  he  gathers  an  interested  crowd  by  an  electric  light 
that  burns  brilliantly  from  his  moving  car.  He  distributes 
handbills  announcing  that  in  the  cockpit  that  evening  there 
will  be  an  exhibition  of  moving  pictures  and  that  any  who 
purchase  copies  of  the  Scriptures  which  he  has  with  him 
will  receive  a  ticket  to  the  exhibition.  Two  Filipino  boys 
help  to  handle  the  "  outfit,"  and  on  the  screen  are  shown 
Bible  pictures  —  the  story  of  David,  the  story  of  Samson, 
and  stereopticon  scenes  from  the  New  Testament,  all  of 
which  explain  some  portion  of  the  Scriptures  that  have  been 
circulated.  Occasionally  the  one  who  is  giving  the  lecture 
will  say  that  the  further  particulars  of  these  pictures  can  be 
found  in  the  little  books  which  he  has  with  him,  and  it  is 


I9i6]  HOPEFUL  RESULTS  511 

also  announced  that  a  Philippine  minister  will  be  there  the 
next  Sunday  to  answer  any  questions  which  the  people  may 
want  to  ask  concerning  either  the  pictures  or  the  books.  In 
this  way,  in  villages  where  a  colporteur  in  ordinary  visita- 
tion from  house  to  house  would  only  dispose  of  a  few  Gos- 
pels, thousands  actually  are  taken  in  a  day;  and  more  than 
that,  the  people  are  interested  in  them. 

This  has  led  to  opposition,  and  in  one  village  the  priest 
offered  to  admit  to  a  rival  picture  exhibit  all  who  would 
come  bringing  the  Scriptures  that  they  had  bought  as  tickets 
of  admission.  In  this  way  he  gathered  a  few  hundred  out 
of  the  thousands  and  the  next  day  ostentatiously  burned 
them  in  the  public  plaza. 

So  the  experiences  of  the  days  of  Tyndall  and  St.  Paul's 
Churchyard  in  London  are  reproduced  in  Vigan.  Would 
that  like  results  might  follow  and  the  Philippines  become,  as 
the  British  Isles,  filled  with  Bible-loving  people. 

In  the  year  1912,  while  Mr.  McLaughlin  was  on  furlough, 
the  Rev.  Harry  Farmer  was  in  charge. 

In  spite  of  opposition  the  work  has  gone  forward,  the 
missionary  societies  have  their  important  stations,  a  Prot- 
estant church  membership  has  grown  up  of  over  60,000  souls, 
and  multitudes  of  others  have  an  awakened  conscience.  In 
this  youngest  of  its  fields  the  Society  has  circulated  a  million 
and  a  half  of  Scriptures  in  eight  languages  and  dialects,  into 
all  of  which  these  holy  writings  have  been  translated  for  the 
first  time. 


CHAPTER  LVI 

THE   BIBLE   IN   APOSTOLIC   FIELDS 

Sometimes  suggested,  sometimes  stated  in  a  bald  and 
commonplace  manner,  an  idea  springs  from  reading  the  his- 
torical parts  of  the  Old  Testament  that  ancient  Bible  lands 
were  soaked  in  blood.  The  year  1916,  when  this  chapter  is 
written  on  the  Levant  Agency,  offers  a  parallel  respecting 
parts  of  those  lands  familiar  to  the  Apostles,  and  now  in- 
cluded in  diminishing  degree  within  the  Turkish  Empire. 
During  the  twenty-five  years  between  1891  and  191 5  there 
were  three  terrible  massacres  in  Turkey  besides  the  latest 
horror  of  the  same  class  connected  with  Turkey's  participa- 
tion in  the  war  now  raging  in  Europe.  There  were  also 
several  wars,  and  one  revolution  that  hurled  a  Sultan  from 
his  throne.  The  story  of  this  period  in  the  Levant  Agency, 
then,  is  a  story  of  work  in  circumstances  which  again  and 
again  have  tested  the  fibre  of  all  engaged  in  its  labours. 

During  the  first  seventeen  years  (ending  in  1908)  of  this 
period,  the  wishes  of  an  arbitrary  sovereign  definitely  hin- 
dered the  work  of  Bible  distribution  in  a  large  part  of  the 
agency  field.  Turkish  officials  happily  did  not  give  full 
effect  to  the  wish  of  the  Sultan,  but  their  actions  resembled 
those  of  the  police  in  a  city  controlled  by  a  rapacious  ring. 
Year  after  year  colporteurs  were  arrested,  had  their  books 
seized  on  pretence  of  censorship  examination,  and  were  for- 
bidden for  weeks  and  perhaps  months  to  travel  according  to 
the  needs  of  their  occupation.  Such  hindrances  were  mainly 
encountered  in  the  northern  provinces  of  Asiatic  Turkey, 
but  often  the  whim  of  an  official  interrupted  Bible  work  in 
other  provinces  of  the  Empire. 

The  devices  used  by  Turkish  officials  to  hinder  circulation 
of  the  Scriptures  sprang  partly  from  a  hope  of  extracting 
blackmail  from  the  colporteurs.  But  they  had  a  real  dread 
of  the  tendency  and  the  power  of  Bible  ideas.     More  than 

512 


1891-1916]  MASSACRES  OF  ARMENIANS  513 

once  the  first  verse  of  the  27th  Psalm  was  copied  out  and 
sent  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  as  subversive :  "  The 
Lord  is  my  Hght  and  my  salvation;  whom  shall  I  fear?" 
To  a  Turkish  official  this  implied  overthrow  of  that  terror 
of  the  Sultan's  officers  which  seemed  essential  to  a  proper 
control  of  subjects. 

Such  opinions  made  it  remarkable  that  Bible  distribution 
work  could  be  performed  at  all.  Greater  troubles  awaited 
the  Agency  and  its  colporteurs,  however.  In  1893  the 
Turkish  authorities  at  Mush  in  Eastern  Turkey  claimed  to 
have  discovered  a  plot  for  a  general  insurrection  among  the 
Armenian  mountaineers  of  the  neighbouring  district  of  Sas- 
sun.  To  forestall  any  such  movement  a  massacre  of  the 
Armenians  in  the  district  was  carried  out  by  Turkish  troops 
aided  by  civilian  volunteers  who  would  get  their  pay  in  loot 
from  the  houses.  Then  began  a  general  attitude  of  suspi- 
cion toward  Armenians  in  all  the  country  which  greatly 
hindered  Bible  distribution.  Much  hardihood  was  required 
of  Armenian  colporteurs  who  travelled. 

The  European  governments  now  urged  the  Sultan  to 
adopt  certain  measures  calculated  to  give  protection  to 
peaceable  Armenians.  The  Sultan,  after  long  delay,  ac- 
cepted the  proposals  of  the  Powers  but  before  they  were  put 
into  execution,  massacres  of  the  Armenian  population  began. 
One  after  another  of  the  cities  and  towns  where  the  richest 
Armenian  communities  were  settled  experienced  some  days 
of  slaughter.  These  successive  massacres  continued  from 
October,  1895,  during  almost  a  year,  the  last  great  outbreak 
taking  place  at  Constantinople  in  1896.  There  some  6,000 
people  were  killed  in  the  streets,  their  homes  and  shops  were 
looted,  and  when  it  became  clear  that  the  police  winked  at 
such  doings,  the  whole  city  was  plunged  into  terror.  Prob- 
ably at  least  100,000  Armenians,  many  of  them  the  choice 
men  of  the  community,  were  killed  during  this  year  of 
slaughter  in  Asiatic  Turkey. 

In  1909  a  bloody  massacre  in  the  main  limited  to  Cilicia, 
dear  to  St.  Paul,  took  place  in  Adana  and  adjoining  regions 
south  of  the  Taurus  Mountains.  Several  evangelical  pas- 
tors and  an  American  missionary  were  among  the  victims 
of  this  outbreak  of  fanaticism. 


514  IN  APOSTOLIC  FIELDS  [1891- 

Syria  and  Egypt  were  not  much  affected  by  the  massacres 
of  1895  and  1896  excepting  as  numbers  of  Armenian  fugi- 
tives sought  refuge  in  those  sections  of  the  Agency.  A 
rather  picturesque  incident  connected  with  the  visit  of  the 
German  Emperor  to  Jerusalem  in  1898  was  the  presenta- 
tion to  him  by  Mr.  Freyer  of  Beirut,  the  representative  of 
the  Bible  Society,  of  a' finely  bound  copy  of  the  Bible  in 
Arabic.  This  gift  was  courteously  and  pleasantly  accepted, 
but  every  one  felt  that  the  visit  of  the  Emperor  to  Turkey 
in  that  year  would  harden  the  heart  of  the  Sultan. 

Mohammedans  as  well  as  Christians  in  Turkey  felt  that 
the  heart  and  hand  of  the  Sultan  were  hard,  and  it  was  an 
occasion  for  great  rejoicing  among  the  people  which  was 
reflected  in  all  letters  from  the  Levant  Agency  when  in 
1909  the  Sultan  whose  despotism  had  seared  the  helpless 
like  a  red  hot  iron  during  thirty  years,  was  dethroned.  A 
revolution  occurred  in  Constantinople  resulting  in  the  ac- 
ceptance by  the  Sultan  of  popular  demands  for  a  constitu- 
tion and  a  parliament.  This  was  in  July,  1908,  but  the 
Sultan  prepared  a  counter-revolution  in  1909,  whereupon  a 
Turkish  army  from  Macedonia  marched  on  Constantinople, 
captured  the  Sultan,  and  placed  his  brother  upon  the  throne. 
Free  institutions  were  now  established,  among  them  free- 
dom of  the  press.  The  new  "  freedom  "  might  not  pass 
muster  in  America,  but  the  only  restrictions  upon  any  Chris- 
tian workers  under  the  new  order  of  things  in  Turkey  were 
the  restrictions  of  common  sense  and  of  the  rights  of  others. 

In  1910  disturbances  began  in  Egypt,  where  the  Prime 
Minister  was  assassinated,  and  in  Albania.  In  191 1  Italy 
declared  war  on  Turkey  on  account  of  the  Turkish  action 
in  Albania  and  wrested  from  Turkey  the  province  of  Tripoli 
in  Africa,  making  peace  late  in  1912.  Almost  immediately 
Montenegro,  Bulgaria,  Servia,  and  Greece  made  an  alliance 
and  by  a  short  and  sharp  war  in  1912  drove  the  Turkish 
army  and  Turkish  government  into  Constantinople.  This 
was  followed  by  war  over  the  spoils  between  the  Balkan 
States ;  Servia  and  Greece  fighting  with  Bulgaria  for  pos- 
session of  Macedonia.  This  continued  through  the  year 
1913,  one  incident  of  the  turmoil  being  the  assassination  of 
the  King  of  Greece  at  Salonica.     Six  months  later  Austria 


I9i6]  RULING  BY  THE  SWORD  515 

declared  war  upon  Servia,  in  July,  1914,  and  by  the  first 
week  in  August  the  great  European  war  had  commenced, 
into  which  Turkey  was  drawn  before  many  months. 

The  Turkish  statesmen  had  not  yet  been  converted  from 
government  by  the  sword  as  a  principle  of  successful  rule. 
Successive  ministries  have  shown  a  fatal  facility  for  taking 
advice  as  mischievous  as  the  counsel  of  Hushai  the  Archite 
to  Absalom  upon  whom  the  Lord  willed  to  bring  punishment. 
As  the  great  war  progressed  Turkey  more  and  more  feared 
disloyalty  on  the  part  of  the  Armenians  and  Greeks  scat- 
tered through  the  Empire.  It  chose  the  course  of  destroy- 
ing the  whole  Armenian  nation,  and  the  full  extent  of  the 
infamies  which  it  perpetrated  with  this  purpose  will  prob- 
ably never  be  known. 

At  the  time  when  this  inhuman  policy  was  adopted  there 
were  in  Asiatic  Turkey  within  the  fields  of  the  American 
Board  168  American  missionaries,  men  and  women;  1,204 
native  assistants;  137  church  centres  with  13,891  communi- 
cants and  an  average  of  a  little  over  50,000  attendants  at  the 
regular  church  services.  This  body  of  evangelicals  in  Asi- 
atic Turkey,  reported  in  1914,  was  the  fruit  of  almost  a 
hundred  years  of  evangelistic  labour;  it  has  been  deported 
and  scattered  in  great  measure,  if  not  entirely  destroyed 
along  with  tens  of  thousands  of  Armenian  members  of  the 
ancient  church. 

A  land  devastated  by  calamity  and  catastrophe  forms  the 
largest  part  of  the  field  of  the  Levant  Agency,  concerning 
the  state  of  which  at  the  end  of  our  century  this  chapter 
must  convey  some  true  impression.  It  was  a  wonder  that 
any  field  work  was  accomplished  by  the  Levant  Agency  and 
its  band  of  colporteurs  during  years  of  such  unrest  and  panic 
and  overturning.  During  the  massacres  of  1895  Dr.  Bowen 
wrote  that  in  some  parts  of  the  country  colporteur  work  was 
at  a  complete  standstill.  Of  course  it  was  not  safe  for  a 
colporteur  to  travel  when  the  country  was  overrun  by  roving 
bands  of  men  with  murder  in  their  eyes.  During  the  whole 
year  1895  a  colporteur  was  kept  at  work  at  Mosul  and  an- 
other at  Mardin  in  far  ofif  Mesopotamia;  but  neither  one 
ventured  outside  of  his  own  city.  On  the  whole  the  col- 
porteurs showed  extraordinary  pluck,  however,  through  all 


5i6  IN  APOSTOLIC  FIELDS  [1891- 

that  year  of  violence,  venturing  out  whenever  there  seemed 
to  be  a  lull  in  the  storm.  By  the  end  of  1897  the  Agency 
found  it  possible  to  employ  thirty-eight  colporteurs  in  Asi- 
atic Turkey  and  to  help  correspondents  in  the  same  region 
to  employ  forty-nine  men  who  gave  part  of  their  time  to 
Bible  distribution. 

Hindrances  to  Bible  work  in  the  Levant  now  took  on  a 
new  aspect.  The  terrible  poverty  of  the  survivors,  stripped 
of  all  their  goods  during  the  massacres,  was  one  hindrance ; 
a  feeling  of  political  unrest  another.  But  another  difficulty 
encountered  at  this  time  was  a  strange  growth  of  socialistic 
atheism  among  the  younger  Armenians  and  Greeks  of  the 
Turkish  Empire.  A  strong  socialistic  propaganda  among 
the  Armenians  was  one  of  the  immediate  consequences  of 
the  massacres. 

In  191 1  the  Levant  Agency  completed  seventy-five  years 
of  its  existence,  and  Dr.  Bowen  was  particularly  anxious  to 
have  attention  called  to  the  fact  that  it  was  still  alive.  The 
circulation  during  the  year  ending  January  ist,  191 1,  was 
145,000  volumes,  which  was  an  increase  by  37,000  volumes 
over  the  circulation  of  the  previous  year.  The  demand  for 
Arabic  Scriptures  was  continually  growing.  During  the  last 
half  of  those  seventy-five  years,  that  is  to  say  since  1872, 
the  Society  had  paid  the  Presbyterian  mission  press  in 
Beirut  for  printing  and  binding  1,342,266  volumes  of  Arabic 
Scriptures.  These  figures  represent  not  only  the  vogue  en- 
joyed by  this  book,  but  the  close  relations  of  the  Bible  So- 
ciety to  missions. 

Bible  translation  had  been  fostered  in  the  Levant  by  the 
Society  from  1830  or  thereabouts.  In  1900  Dr.  Bowen 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  work  of  Bible  translation 
into  the  different  languages  of  the  Levant  was  substantially 
accomplished.  As  if  this  fact  made  it  possible  for  the  aged 
saint  to  go  to  rest,  in  January,  1901,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Elias 
Riggs,  the  veteran  translator  of  the  Armenian  Bible,  the 
Bulgarian  Bible,  and  in  association  with  others  reviser  of 
the  Turkish  Bible,  finished  his  arduous  labours  upon  earth. 
He  was  a  noble  Christian  and  a  great  man.  Like  many 
other  men  who  are  truly  great.  Dr.  Riggs  was  simple  in  his 
habits  and  never  claimed  recognition  of  his  talents. 


I9i6]  INTEREST  IN  THE  BIBLE  517 

The  first  Balkan  war  broke  out  while  Dr.  Bowen  was  in 
America  recuperating  from  a  very  fatiguing  journey  of  in- 
spection and  counsel  to  Persia. 

During  the  Balkan  wars  the  Agency  employed  every 
means  to  distribute  Scriptures  among  the  contending  armies. 
Scriptures  could  be  sent  from  Constantinople  to  Salonica, 
under  various  foreign  flags  without  great  delays,  but  when 
Bulgaria  was  fighting  with  Turkey  it  was  extremely  difficult 
to  supply  the  colporteurs  in  Bulgaria  from  Constantinople. 
Nevertheless  this  was  done  to  some  extent,  even  while  the 
two  nations  were  at  war,  and  it  was  reported  by  the  col- 
porteurs working  among  the  troops  on  both  sides  that  amid 
all  the  agonies  of  war  yearnings  for  the  love  of  God  and  for 
the  sense  of  God  in  daily  life  were  more  potent  than  ever 
before. 

Outweighing  the  difficulties  which  confronted  Bible  work- 
ers in  Turkey  during  this  period,  pleasant  evidences  of  inter- 
est in  the  Bible  appeared  where  least  expected.  In  Syria, 
Maronite  Roman  Catholics  of  the  Lebanon,  commonly 
classed  among  the  most  bigoted  of  men,  began  to  come  back 
from  America  with  new  ideas.  They  were  apparently  freed 
from  domination  of  the  priests,  and  willing  or  even  anxious 
to  read  the  Bible.  Even  more  remarkable  changes  of  atti- 
tude among  Mohammedans  appeared  in  all  parts  of  the 
Agency  field.  Colporteurs  were  astonished  to  find  kindly 
consideration  among  Mohammedans  instead  of  opposition 
and  violence.  The  number  of  Mohammedan  readers  of  the 
Bible  steadily  increased  in  Bulgaria,  in  Asiatic  Turkey,  in 
Syria,  and  notably  in  Egypt.  They  often  expressed  hearty 
admiration  for  the  book  and  it  gradually  became  clear  that 
during  almost  eighty  years  of  Bible  distribution  in  the  Turk- 
ish Empire,  the  Scriptures  have  been  acquiring  a  certain 
influence  among  the  followers  of  Mohammed,  notwithstand- 
ing their  armour  of  hostility  to  Christians.  In  191 3  the  cir- 
culation of  Scriptures  among  Mohammedans  in  the  Agency 
was  more  than  double  that  of  the  previous  year.  Notwith- 
standing bitterness  toward  Christians  in  general  on  account 
of  war,  respect  for  the  Scriptures  seems  to  be  increasing. 

After  the  suppression  of  the  censorship  of  the  press,  the 
circulation  reports  showed  that  the  Mohammedan  population 


5i8  IN  APOSTOLIC  FIELDS  [1891- 

had  become  a  most  important  part  of  the  field  to  be  culti- 
vated. Again  and  again  Mohammedans  have  expressed  the 
greatest  indignation  at  the  massacre  of  their  Christian  neigh- 
bours ;  and  it  seems  clear  that  the  wide  dissemination  of  the 
Scriptures  is  producing  a  radical  change  of  attitude  toward 
Bible  Christians.  At  one  place  in  Turkey  a  colporteur  was 
arrested  by  the  police  at  the  request  of  a  priest  on  a  charge 
of  ''  trying  to  make  Protestants,"  and  was  taken  before  the 
governor.  ''Yes,  yes,  I  know,"  said  the  governor,  "  he 
wants  to  make  men  protest  against  wickedness."  One  col- 
porteur fell  into  the  hands  of  a  band  of  brigands.  They 
rushed  at  him  furiously,  but  when  he  told  them  that  he  had 
nothing  at  all  excepting  the  Bible,  the  book  of  God,  they 
changed  their  tone,  released  him,  and  said,  *'  We  know  you 
Protestants  are  good  people ;  go  on  your  way !  " 

In  Cairo,  Egypt,  a  Mohammedan  barber  found  it  worth 
while  to  buy  a  Bible  for  his  shop,  because  his  customers 
were  always  glad  to  have  that  book  to  read  while  waiting 
their  turn.  In  191 3  a  young  student  in  a  Mohammedan 
theological  seminary  decided  that  he  needed  more  education 
than  the  seminary  afforded,  and  entered  a  Christian  college 
in  Turkey.  His  first  lesson  in  English  was  in  the  Psalms. 
When  he  came  to  the  23rd  Psalm  he  said  to  his  teacher, 
"  Ah,  I  love  that  Psalm  !  "  English  and  Turkish  Bibles  side 
by  side,  he  went  on  with  his  studies,  more  and  more  inter- 
ested. The  Beatitudes  were  a  revelation  to  his  mind.  As 
he  read,  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart  for  they  shall  see 
God,"  his  face  became  radiant.  The  truth  had  entered  into 
his  heart  and  from  that  time  on  he  was  a  different  man. 

In  Egypt  it  was  pleasant  to  see  an  unusual  interest  among 
timid  native  Christians  in  religious  work  for  Mohammedans. 
A  Copt  had  a  brother  liable  to  be  drafted  into  the  army. 
After  the  fashion  of  the  Orientals,  when  he  prayed  that  his 
brother  might  be  spared  he  made  a  vow  binding  himself  in 
case  his  wish  was  granted  to  buy  one  hundred  Bibles  for 
Mohammedans.  The  brother  was  not  conscripted ;  the 
money  for  the  Bibles  was  paid,  and  this  Copt  gave  forty  of 
them  with  his  own  hands  to  Mohammedans  whom  he  con- 
sidered worthy. 

The  great  European  war  smote  the  Levant  Agency  more 


I9i6]  BIBLE  WORK  IN  WARTIME  519 

heavily  than  any  previous  calamity.  For  seven  months 
of  1914  everything  was  prosperous.  Then  came  the  out- 
burst of  August  and  the  whole  appearance  of  the  field  was 
changed.  All  financial  transactions  were  arrested  by  the 
moratorium,  and  travel  had  to  wait  on  the  pleasure  of  army 
officers.  At  this  time  in  Turkey,  Bulgaria,  and  Albania  the 
American  Board  had  203  missionaries,  of  whom  136  were 
women.  The  devotion  with  which  these  missionaries  have 
endured  the  pain  in  order  to  encourage  the  fearful,  help  the 
sufferers,  and  save  life  is  inspiring.  The  missionaries  in 
Syria  have  not  been  forced  out  of  their  stations  by  the  war, 
and  in  Egypt  missionaries  have  felt  few  of  the  strains  under 
which  the  missionaries  in  Turkey  have  laboured.  While  a 
considerable  number  of  these,  especially  the  British  subjects 
from  Canada,  the  feeble,  and  some  of  the  unmarried  women, 
have  been  advised  to  leave  the  field,  some  missionaries  re- 
main at  almost  every  one  of  the  fifteen  American  Board 
mission  stations  in  Asiatic  Turkey.  Wherever  there  are 
missionaries,  there  Bible  work  is  going  on  in  greater  or  less 
extent. 

At  the  end  of  1914  Rev.  Dr.  Bowen  was  handling  the 
affairs  of  the  Agency  at  Constantinople  with  a  subagent,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Popoff  of  Sofia,  in  Bulgaria ;  Mr.  C.  A.  Dana  was 
caring  for  the  interests  of  the  Society  in  Beirut,  Syria,  and 
Mr.  M.  Bakhit  was  superintending  the  colporteurs  in  Egypt 
advised  by  Rev.  W.  H.  Reed  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
mission.  Egypt  being  a  possession  of  Great  Britain,  now 
at  war  with  Turkey,  communication  with  Constantinople  is 
entirely  cut  off,  but  before  the  war  broke  out,  Mr.  Reed  said 
that  the  colporteurs  were  reaching  hundreds  of  towns  and 
villages  unreached  by  any  other  evangelistic  agency.  One 
of  the  colporteurs  had  visited  some  of  the  oases  in  the  desert 
to  the  west  of  the  Nile,  penetrating  as  far  as  El  Obeid,  the 
capital  of  Kordofan.  In  the  Soudan  the  colporteurs  re- 
ported that  the  illiteracy  of  the  Soudanese  is  rapidly  passing. 
Not  one  in  two  hundred  yet  knows  how  to  read,  but  the 
desire  for  education  seems  to  possess  all  the  young  folks 
and  the  schools  are  crowded.  This  implies  a  tendency  to- 
ward extension  of  the  field  for  Bible  distribution.  In  Syria 
any  increase  of  colporteurs  was  prevented  by  the  war,  both 


520  IN  APOSTOLIC  FIELDS  [1891- 

because  of  the  scarcity  of  money  and  of  the  risks  of  travel- 
ling. In  Bulgaria  the  evangelical  churches  quite  generally 
celebrated  the  13th  of  December,  1913,  as  Bible  day,  when 
the  pastors  preached  on  the  Bible  and  collections  were  made 
for  the  Bible  Society.  Bulgarians  in  the  congregation  who 
were  not  Protestants  were  interested  in  the  subject  and  con- 
tributed with  the  others.  It  is  quite  clear  that  the  number 
of  Bible  readers  is  increasing  because  of  the  calamities  of 
the  times.  At  the  end  of  the  24th  year  of  the  fourth  quarter 
of  the  century  the  Agency  had  put  into  circulation  since  1891 
2,308,800  volumes  of  Scripture. 

The  Society  has  expended  for  the  great  work  in  the  lands 
of  the  Near  East  in  ninety-one  years  (from  1825  to  the  end 
of  1915)  the  sum  of  $2,804,104.39. 

The  changes  which  have  taken  place  and  which  are  im- 
pending in  the  Turkish  Empire  and  the  Balkan  states  are 
quite  beyond  measure  or  estimate.  Turkey  is  shrinking, 
losing  territory  and  losing  power.  The  Armenians  are 
wasted  but  not  destroyed.  Bulgaria,  which  has  always  been 
in  unrest  since  the  first  Balkan  war,  seems  now  to  be  in  a 
peculiarly  critical  condition.  All  that  any  friends  of  the 
people  of  this  great  agency  can  do  is  to  remember  this  situa- 
tion in  their  prayers.  Let  the  brave  words  of  Dr.  Bowen 
close  this  chapter,  for  they  reveal  our  hope  for  the  future. 
Speaking  in  the  first  months  of  the  great  European  war  on 
the  many  problems  presented  by  the  suddenness  with  which 
the  armies  clashed.  Dr.  Bowen  said :  ''  The  American  Am- 
bassador was  adapted  to  the  peculiar  demands  of  the  time. 
Divine  Providence  brought  Mr.  Morgenthau  to  the  Con- 
stantinople Embassy  at  this  time."  And  for  himself  he  adds, 
"  Difficulties  cleared  away,  we  experienced  the  favour  of 
Providence.  We  learned  lessons  in  those  days.  The  more 
trustfully  we  trudged  along  our  way,  the  more  confirmed 
our  strength  became." 


CHAPTER  LVII 

THE   PROBLEM    OF    MEANS 

"  The  poorest  way  to  measure  life,  whether  it  be  the  Hfe 
of  an  institution  or  the  Hfe  of  an  individual,  is  simply  to 
count  the  years  that  have  been  lived.  As  the  poet  says,  we 
should  '  count  life  by  deeds,  not  years ! '  The  life,  the  great 
life  lived  in  Palestine  nineteen  centuries  ago,  was  compassed 
in  all  its  activities  within  less  than  four  years,  yet  it  has 
fashioned  and  moulded  the  life  of  the  world  with  ever  in- 
creasing power  since  that  date."  ^ 

Not  because  of  one  hundred  years  of  existence  are  we  to 
celebrate  the  centennial  anniversary  of  the  American  Bible 
Society,  but  because  during  each  of  those  years  it  has  sent 
forth  many  Bibles.  The  important  point  in  the  ceaseless 
labour  outlined  in  this  history  is  that  thus  the  deeds  wrought 
by  the  Bible  have  been  in  some  degree  manifested  and  so  far 
God  has  been  glorified.  But  the  story  of  these  labours  is  not 
complete  until  it  has  made  clear  the  vital  relation  to  the 
Society  and  the  source,  in  the  hearts  of  Christian  people, 
of  the  gifts  of  money  which  have  made  and  moved  the 
115,000,000  Bibles  issued  during  the  century. 

There  is  a  persistent  but  mistaken  impression  abroad  that 
sales  of  books  ought  to  support  the  Bible  Society.  Sales  of 
books  each  year  bring  in  a  considerable  sum,  but  this  sum  is 
not  sufficient  even  to  pay  the  cost  of  the  books  printed  be- 
cause a  very  considerable  number  of  volumes  are  given  away 
to  the  poor,  to  churches,  and  to  missionary  Societies.  More- 
over, though  this  sum  were  sufficient  to  pay  for  printing  all 
the  books  used,  it  would  not  suffice  for  carrying  on  the  work 
of  the  Society. 

1  Mr.  Justice  Brewer  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  on 
Bible  Day,  March  6th,  1904,  at  Washington. 

521 


522  THE  PROBLEM  OF  MEANS  [1891- 

The  people  for  whom  the  Society  exists  form  a  large  class 
composed  of  those  who  have  no  Scriptures,  those  who  know 
not  where  to  get  Scriptures,  and  those  who  do  not  wish  to 
get  Scriptures.  This  large  class  has  power  to  ruin  the  coun- 
try if  it  is  not  enlightened  and  brought  under  the  influence  of 
the  Bible.  The  situation  of  the  Society  is  something  like 
that  of  our  Lord  when  He  explained  to  the  Pharisees  that 
He  came  to  call  not  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance. 
Money  to  print  books  is  not  enough  to  sustain  the  work  of 
the  Society,  because  the  Bibles  when  printed  have  to  be  car- 
ried to  those  who  have  none,  in  every  country  where  the 
Society  is  working. 

In  any  missionary  or  benevolent  institution  a  natural  im- 
pulse is  often  felt  by  its  Managers  to  expend  the  money  in 
the  treasury,  expecting  more  at  once  to  be  given.  But  wise 
Managers  will  earnestly  invite  contributions,  and  at  the  same 
time  act  cautiously,  making  no  plans  to  give  even  for  the 
best  of  causes  unless  there  is  a  reasonable  probability  that 
gifts  will  come  in.  The  churches  and  benevolent  people  of 
the  different  denominations  make  the  final  decision  for  the 
Society  as  to  its  issue  and  distribution  of  Scriptures.  The 
Board  takes  note  of  the  probability  of  donations.  When 
these  diminish  anxiety  takes  the  place  of  the  usual  confidence 
respecting  appropriations  for  the  work.  In  1892  the  Board 
was  shocked  to  discover  that  the  contributions  from  churches, 
whether  direct  or  through  Auxiliary  Societies,  and  those 
from  individuals  were  far  less  than  twenty-five  years  before.^ 
It  was  clear  if  the  needed  books  were  to  be  provided,  the 
Board  must  make  special  appeals  for  money.  Books  in  the 
languages  of  the  immigrants  were  especially  expensive,  being 
imported  from  Europe,  but  it  was  absolutely  impossible  to 
leave  the  immigrants  in  such  ignorance  of  the  Bible  as  was 
the  lot  of  most  of  them  on  arriving  in  the  United  States.  It 
was  certain  that  the  people  if  they  once  understood  the  need, 
would  increase  their  subscriptions. 

Such  appeals  caused  increase  in  the  contributions  during 
the  next  year,  but  the  plans  for  necessary  labours  could  not 
have  been  carried  out  had  not  legacies  in  unusual  amounts 

1  From  Churches  and  individuals  in  1867,  $60,545  —  in  1892 
$37,207;  and  from  Auxiliaries  in  1867,  $113,309  — in   1892,  $44,093- 


A  FISHER   OF   MEN 


I9i6]  AS  THE  CHURCHES  DIRECT  523 

come  into  the  Treasury  during  the  last  months  of  1893. 
Legacies  during  ten  years  had  averaged  a  Httle  more  than 
$126,000  each  year.  In  1893,  the  year  of  financial  panic, 
$247,000  came  into  the  Treasury  from  this  source  as  if  to 
meet  a  foreseen  need.  In  the  year  ending  March,  1896,  the 
gifts  from  churches.  Auxiliaries  and  individuals  were  less 
than  gifts  from  the  same  sources  in  1876.  The  Board  of 
Managers  found  in  1896,  too,  that  while  the  gifts  from  these 
three  sources  amounted  to  $67,102.17,  $162,240.13  had  been 
appropriated  that  very  year  for  foreign  missions  alone. 

In  this  case  the  deficiency  was  supplied  by  legacies  re- 
ceived during  the  year  and  by  a  draft  upon  the  surplus  of 
legacies  formerly  received  and  held  over  for  emergencies  of 
this  class.  This  experience  brought  to  the  minds  of  the 
Managers  the  fact  that  the  churches  are  continually  expand- 
ing their  missionary  work.  As  missions  expand,  either  at 
home  or  abroad,  demands  upon  the  Society  for  Scriptures 
greatly  increase.  The  Bible  Society  is  the  servant  of  the 
churches  of  all  denominations ;  but  it  can  supply  Bibles  for 
expanded  missionary  enterprises  only  so  far  as  the  churches 
and  their  members  furnish  the  means.  It  was  clear  that 
steps  must  be  taken  to  inform  all  the  churches  in  the  country 
of  this  situation. 

Whether  a  famine  of  Bibles  should  smite  every  American 
mission  field  or  money  be  provided  to  print  the  needed  Bibles 
was  for  the  churches  to  decide.  If  the  churches  preferred 
to  do  so  they  could  supply  their  missions  by  printing  their 
own  Bibles.  The  only  alternative  was  to  supply  money  to 
the  Bible  Society.  This  would  be  far  more  economical. 
This  dilemma  the  Board  placed  before  the  churches.  The 
proof  of  this  thesis  was  the  fact  that  in  the  year  ending 
March,  1896,  the  Society  issued  for  the  home  field  alone 
175,484  volumes  of  Scripture  more  than  it  did  twenty  years 
before.  The  following  year,  1897,  however,  the  sum  of  the 
gifts  from  churches,  Auxiliaries,  and  individuals  was  $8,000 
less  than  the  previous  year;  a  situation  which  caused  great 
solicitude.  No  alternative  remained  but  to  reduce  expendi- 
tures. A  commencement  was  made  by  reducing  grants  for 
Bible  distribution  in  mission  fields  outside  of  the  regular 
agencies  of   the   Society.     For  Russia,   France,  and  Italy 


524  THE  PROBLEM  OF  MEANS  [1891- 

grants  were  suspended,  and  for  Germany,  the  Scandinavian 
countries,  and  Austria  grants  were  considerably  reduced  be- 
cause of  the  insufficiency  of  contributions. 

It  now  began  to  be  perceived  that  unless  the  Christian  pub- 
lic thoroughly  understands  what  the  Society  is  doing,  the 
Treasury  will  always  be  so  nearly  empty  that  a  very  small 
coin  makes  a  noise  when  dropped  into  it.  This  fact  is  illus- 
trated by  the  provision  made  for  printing  Scriptures  for  the 
blind  by  gifts  to  the  Society  that  were  specially  designated. 
People  see  and  sympathetically  feel  the  need  of  those  who 
cannot  see.  Effort  to  help  them  is  of  a  kind  which  no  one 
would  wish  to  see  curtailed.  One  of  the  evidences  men- 
tioned by  our  Lord  to  convince  John  the  Baptist  in  his 
prison  cell  that  He  was  indeed  the  Christ,  we  have  not  failed 
to  note,  was  the  fact  that  the  blind  received  their  sight. 

We  have  already  mentioned  that  the  whole  Bible  in  raised 
letters  on  the  system  of  Dr.  Howe  was  prepared  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  Society  in  the  years  from  1836  to  1843.  After 
more  than  19,000  volumes  had  been  distributed,  Mr.  W.  B. 
Waite,  of  the  New  York  Institution  for  the  Blind,  in  1874 
invented  a  new  system  of  printing  for  the  blind  known  as 
the  New  York  Point  system.  In  the  Point  system  a  single 
Gospel  was  printed  in  that  year  and  the  whole  Bible  com- 
pleted in  1894.  Afterwards  plates  for  the  whole  Bible  in 
another  point  system  known  as  American  Braille  were  made 
at  the  St.  Louis  Institute  for  the  Blind,  and  placed  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Society.  The  whole  Bible  in  this  system  also  has 
been  issued  from  the  Bible  House. 

As  to  the  expense  of  providing  Scriptures  for  the  blind 
it  has  been  largely  met  by  the  interest  of  one  man  in  their 
needs.  Mr.  Jonathan  Burr,  of  Chicago,  happened  in  a  Sun- 
day School  to  see  three  persons  from  one  family,  a  sister  and 
two  brothers  who  had  been  born  blind  and  were  taking  part 
in  the  exercises  of  the  school  by  means  of  a  copy  of  the  New 
Testament  in  raised  letters.  When  Mr.  Burr  found  that  this 
book  had  come  from  the  American  Bible  Society,  he  included 
in  his  will  a  legacy  to  the  Society  to  form  a  fund  of  which 
the  interest  is  forever  to  be  used  for  the  issue  by  the  Society 
of  books  for  the  blind.  In  191 5  Mr.  W.  B.  Waite  presented 
to  the  Society  a  printing  press  of  his  own  invention  for  the 


I9i6]  LESS  KNOWN  LABOURS  525 

New  York  Point  system.  Personal  understanding  of  the 
need  by  Christians  of  sympathetic  hearts  led  to  these  gener- 
ous gifts. 

Operations  of  the  Society  less  well  known  are  often  for- 
gotten. Of  this  class  are  the  grants  sent  to  mission  fields  in 
Europe,  in  Arabia,  and  in  Persia.  Some  such  grants  have 
been  sent  to  Russia  where,  as  has  been  already  mentioned, 
through  a  Bible  Committee  many  thousands  of  Scriptures 
have  been  sent  to  Esthonians  and  where  the  Society  co-oper- 
ated with  the  Imperial  Russian  Bible  Society  during  more 
than  thirty  years  in  sending  colporteurs  on  tours  of  six  or 
seven  thousand  miles  to  the  Far  East  of  Siberia,  in  some 
cases  when  the  thermometer  registered  fifty-eight  degrees 
below  zero,  Fahrenheit.  The  total  number  of  Scriptures 
circulated  by  means  of  such  grants  of  the  Society  in  Russia 
during  this  period  is  214,841  volumes,  of  which  4,148  vol- 
umes went  to  Finland. 

During  sixty-four  years  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission 
Conference  in  the  German  Empire  has  been  enabled  to  pub- 
lish and  circulate  large  numbers  of  Bibles  and  Testaments  in 
that  Christian  country,  where,  as  in  the  United  States,  many 
families  grow  up  without  the  Bible.  The  total  number  of 
Scriptures  printed  and  circulated  in  Germany  through 
grants  of  the  Society  during  this  period  was  328,927.  Ger- 
many's neighbour,  Austria,  is  the  field  of  a  mission  of  the 
American  Board  which  during  some  thirty-five  years  has 
received  grants  for  the  purchase  of  Scriptures  and  their  dis- 
tribution by  colporteurs,  particularly  in  the  land  of  Huss. 
The  police  in  one  town  in  Bohemia  called  up  a  young  woman 
who  was  an  attendant  at  the  Protestant  Chapel.  "  How 
much  money  did  you  get,"  was  demanded,  "  for  becoming 
a  Protestant?"  **  Not  a  cent,"  the  woman  answered,  "  but 
we  have  wasted  less.  Father  used  to  be  a  drunkard  and 
gambled  everything  away.  Now  he  is  kind ;  the  Bible  has 
entirely  changed  our  family."  Some  of  the  converts 
through  this  Bible  work  are  now  labouring  for  the  Bohe- 
mians in  the  United  States.  The  whole  number  of  Scrip- 
tures circulated  in  Austria  from  1891  to  191 5  by  means  of 
these  grants  is  93,257. 

Italy  is  another  country  to  which  money  for  Bible  dis- 


526  THE  PROBLEM  OF  MEANS  [1891- 

tribution  has  been  sent  for  many  years.  The  Waldensian 
churches  in  the  region  of  Florence,  and  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal missionaries  at  Rome  have  received  considerable 
grants  from  the  Bible  Society.  The  whole  number  of 
Scriptures  distributed  in  Italy  by  means  of  these  grants 
during  the  period  was  34,057. 

Methodist  Missions  in  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark 
have  been  aided  in  the  same  manner  and  report  16,551 
volumes  distributed.  The  Bible  Society  of  France  was  able 
to  print  and  circulate  during  this  period  through  grants 
from  the  American  Society  260,270  volumes.  Some  of 
these  have  gone  to  French  troops  in  Cochin  China,  and  some 
to  the  camps  in  Madagascar.  The  Evangelical  Society  of 
Geneva  is  another  organisation  labouring  among  the  coun- 
try districts  in  France,  which  during  this  period  distributed 
a  considerable  number  of  volumes  by  means  of  American 
Bible  Society  grants. 

Other  grants  have  gone  to  Persia,  where  the  American 
Bible  Society  has  been  the  ally  of  missions  of  the  American 
Board  during  many  years.  For  some  years  the  work  in 
Persia  was  under  the  supervision  of  the  Levant  Agency ; 
then  for  seventeen  years  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whipple  carried  on 
this  Bible  work  as  a  separate  Agency;  and  after  his  resig- 
nation in  1896  the  American  Presbyterian  missionaries  in 
Persia  received  grants  and  distributed  Scriptures  each  year. 
The  number  of  Bibles,  Testaments  and  Portions  which  the 
Society  has  enabled  the  missionaries  to  send  out  is  44,049. 
During  seventy-seven  years  the  Scriptures  furnished  by 
the  Society  have  been  a  main  reliance  of  the  missionary 
work;  but  in  1913  an  arrangement  was  concluded  with  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  by  which  the  American 
Society's  work  in  Persia  was  transferred  to  it ;  the  British 
Society  withdrawing  its  Agents  from  Central  America  at 
the  same  time. 

Since  1895  the  Society  has  made  grants  to  the  Reformed 
Church  Mission  in  Arabia.  The  grants  have  been  used  to 
circulate  Bibles,  Testaments,  and  Gospel  Portions,  for  the 
most  part  in  Arabic,  in  Oman  and  Muscat  and  other  parts 
of  Arabia  lying  near  the  head  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  With 
the  money  given  by  the  Society  during  this  period  these  de- 


I9i6]         DISASTROUS  RETRENCHMENT  527 

voted  missionaries  have  put  in  circulation  55,616  volumes 
of  Scripture  chiefly  among  Mohammedans  and  very  largely 
by  sale.  The  main  part  of  the  work  of  the  mission  is  Bible 
distribution.  Next  to  the  Koran  the  Bible  is  the  most 
talked  about  book  among  the  people  of  that  region. 

The  American  Board's  Mission  in  Spain  has  been  granted 
sums  of  money  to  maintain  two  or  three  colporteurs  and  to 
supply  them  with  Scriptures.  It  is  a  most  difficult  country 
in  which  to  work.  Every  book  sold  represents  a  victory 
over  superstition  and  avarice.  The  number  of  Scriptures 
circulated  during  the  twenty-five  years  for  the  Society  is 
21,902. 

Grants  have  been  made  by  the  Society  to  four  missions 
in  India,  besides  those  whose  printing  operations  have  been 
already  described.  The  missions  of  the  American  Board 
in  Ceylon  and  in  the  Madura  region,  and  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  America  in  the  Arcot  district,  and  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  in  the  region  of  Pakur  in  Bengal, 
each  have  had  small  grants  to  foster  Bible  distribution. 
One  of  the  missionaries  in  the  Madura  region  said  that  the 
boys  and  girls  in  the  school  when  offered  their  choice  would 
more  readily  take  a  present  of  a  Bible  than  of  a  jack-knife 
or  a  doll.  The  number  of  Scriptures  circulated  in  India  by 
the  grants  sent  to  these  four  missions  during  the  period 
was  95,702. 

All  these  grants,  though  sometimes  small  in  amount,  are 
important  in  results,  and  should  be  better  known  among 
American  churches  who  sustain  the  Society.  The  effect  of 
failure  to  renew  a  grant  which  has  been  made  annually  for 
several  years  may  be  disastrous.  In  1905  when  a  warning 
of  retrenchment  was  sent  to  the  missions,  Rev.  Dr.  H.  H. 
Jessup,  of  Beirut,  Syria,  wrote  an  impressive  entreaty  for 
the  Board  to  show  mercy.  He  pointed  out  that  in  Bible 
work  the  Presbyterian  Mission  Press  at  Beirut  is  the  agent 
and  servant  of  the  American  Bible  Society;  that  to  make 
retrenchment  in  the  appropriations  for  printing  would 
cripple  the  press  since  it  derives  at  least  three-fourths  of  its 
support  from  the  Bible  Society.  Moreover,  it  would  mean 
a  stoppage  of  Bible  circulation,  an  essential  work  of  any 
Bible  Society. 


528  THE  PROBLEM  OF  MEANS  I1891- 

In  1904  the  failure  of  contributions  for  Bible  work  was 
so  striking  that  an  appeal  was  signed  by  President  Roose- 
velt, Ex-President  Cleveland,  Chief-Justice  Fuller  and 
Justices  Harlan  and  Brewer  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court,  and  nearly  a  score  of  other  distinguished  men,  for 
special  contributions  to  supply  money  necessary  for  Bible 
distribution  at  home  and  abroad.  The  central  principle  of 
this  appeal  was,  ''  No  thoughtful  man  can  doubt  that  to  de- 
crease the  circulation  and  use  of  the  Bible  among  the  people 
would  seriously  menace  the  highest  interests  of  civilized 
humanity." 

This  appeal  brought  an  increase  of  donations,  and  in  1908 
Mrs.  Russell  Sage  made  a  most  generous  offer  looking 
toward  permanent  relief.  She  proposed  to  give  the  Society 
$500,000  provided  it  could  raise  within  one  year  $500,000 
more,  the  two  sums  to  form  an  endowment  fund  of 
$1,000,000  of  which  the  interest  only  may  be  used  each  year. 
This  offer  was  made  known  widely,  but  as  it  was  not  re- 
ceived until  the  year  was  partly  gone,  Mrs.  Sage  kindly  ex- 
tended her  offer  for  another  year.  Tens  of  thousands  of 
persons  contributed  to  the  fund.  Donations  ranged  all  the 
way  from  ten  cents,  the  lowest,  to  $25,000,  the  highest  gift 
from  any  single  individual.  Before  March  31,  1910,  the 
whole  sum  of  $500,000  was  subscribed,  and  Mrs.  Sage  sent 
the  Treasurer  of  the  Society  her  check  for  $500,000. 

An  endowment  fund  of  one  million  dollars  seemed  to  the 
public  enough  to  meet  every  need.  Further  contributions 
to  the  Bible  Society  seemed  unnecessary.  But  the  interest 
on  such  an  endowment  would  at  best  be  about  four  and  one- 
half  per  cent.,  or  $45,000  each  year,  while  the  estimated 
appropriations  for  191 1  called  for  a  little  more  than 
$790,000.  In  three  years,  1910,  191 1,  191 2,  by  the  wills  of 
Christians  who  had  studied  and  appreciated  the  work  of 
the  Society,  like  Mr.  Bloodgood  H.  Cutter,  who  left  his  en- 
tire estate  to  the  Society,  and  Mr.  John  S.  Kennedy,  whose 
gift  was  the  largest  ever  received  from  one  individual,  lega- 
cies were  received  amounting  to  $1,749,000.  These  were 
drawn  upon  to  maintain  Bible  work  without  reduction,  al- 
though the  contributions  from  the  living  were  far  below  the 
amount  necessary  for  the  purpose. 


igi6]  CHURCHES  AND  THE  WORK  529 

In  191 3  it  was  no  longer  possible  to  avoid  the  conclusion 
that  the  Bible  work  planned  would  far  exceed  in  cost  the 
amount  which  the  people  had  planned  to  give  for  it,  and 
appropriations  for  the  year  1914,  on  recommendation  of 
the  Finance  Committee,  were  reduced  twenty  per  cent.,  thus 
defeating  at  the  outset  plans  for  using  new  opportunities 
for  Bible  distribution  made  by  eager  Agents  in  different 
parts  of  the  world  and  of  the  many  American  missionaries 
elsewhere  with  whom  the  Society  was  in  correspondence. 
In  1914  contributions  from  the  living  increased  somewhat, 
but  they  were  still  so  much  less  than  was  needed  that  the 
Board  made  a  further  reduction  of  ten  per  cent,  on  appro- 
priations for  191 5.  In  the  meantime  it  has  been  forced  to 
draw  again  upon  the  reserve  fund,  formed  out  of  the  un- 
used portion  of  past  legacies,  to  pay  the  current  bills  of 
the  year.  It  has  been  pointed  out  by  the  Finance  Com- 
mittee that  this  reserve  is  nearly  exhausted  and  that  the 
Society  will  be  obliged  to  curtail  its  work  both  at  home  and 
abroad  unless  measures  are  discovered  for  increasing  con- 
tributions. 

The  financial  experiences  of  the  Society  have  thrown 
into  the  foreground  a  very  important  principle.  The  rela- 
tion of  this  Bible  work  to  the  churches  of  the  supporting 
denominations  needs  to  be  close  and  vital.  General  Synods, 
General  Conferences,  General  Assemblies,  General  Conven- 
tions and  National  Councils  by  kindly  official  recommenda- 
tions make  such  a  relation  possible.  But  it  is  when  the 
facts  are  made  clear  to  the  Church  members  that  this  vital 
relation  becomes  most  precious.  Then  their  hearts  are 
moved  to  intercessory  prayer,  and  to  setting  apart  as  the 
Lord  has  prospered  them  regular  donations  while  they  live, 
and  bequests  to  continue  their  support  after  they  have 
passed  from  earth.  Then  by  their  inner  impulse  they  form 
the  habit  of  sharing  in  this  unique  enterprise  as  blessed  as  it 
is  great.  This  inner  impulse  can  shortly  be  described  in 
the  words  of  another :  "  We  call  the  Bible  the  Book.  It  is 
the  duty  of  the  churches  to  add  the  word  *  universal '  to  this 
name ;  '  The  Book '  must  become  '  The  Universal  Book ! '  " 


CHAPTER  LVIII 

THY  ORDINANCES   ARE    MY   DELIGHT 

On  looking  back  over  the  Society's  century  with  the  Bible, 
the  satisfaction  felt  and  exhibited  by  those  who  have  shared 
in  the  work  will  furnish  pitying  amusement  to  some ;  the 
enterprise  of  the  Society  will  be  qualified  as  sheer  foolish- 
ness by  the  united  judgment  of  many ;  for  it  offers  to  those 
engaged  in  it  nothing  of  personal  gain,  it  holds  out  no  allure- 
ments of  aggrandisement,  it  permits  no  slackening  in  eager 
service  of  an  unseen  Master.  This  history  admits  all  this. 
It  has  not  concealed  the  self-denials,  strains,  anxieties,  dan- 
gers, sufferings  which  have  marked  its  every  period.  Never- 
theless the  enterprise  has  brought  to  those  engaged  in  it 
satisfaction  and  unstinted  happiness.  This  profound  truth 
cannot  fail  to  arrest  attention  on  any  thoughtful  reading  of 
the  record. 

As  has  been  seen,  the  idea  which  led  to  the  formation  of 
the  Society  was  that  of  obedience  to  the  last  command  of 
our  Saviour,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  make  disciples 
of  all  nations,  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things,  whatso- 
ever I  commanded  you."  All  recognised  that  this  command 
was  associated  with  the  mission  of  Jesus  Christ  to  save  the 
world,  and  sprang  from  the  eternal  purpose  of  God.  The 
failings,  the  ignorance,  and  the  sin  to  be  overcome  by  knowl- 
edge of  the  Most  High  were  really  characteristics  of  the 
whole  race,  not  of  any  one  nation  or  tribe.  It  was  the  inter- 
est of  the  people  which  was  at  stake,  and  since  the  command 
to  teach  the  people  made  their  interest  supremely  important, 
it  overshadowed  any  interest  of  self.  Ignorance  concerning 
God  is  like  the  germ  of  a  physical  disease ;  it  has  a  slow  in- 
cubation but  final  effects  of  great  virulence.  That  the  study 
of  the  Bible  can  avert  some  dangers  of  this  ignorance  has 
been  illustrated  repeatedly  in  this  volume.  In  Cuba  during 
the  Spanish  War,  after  the  fighting  before  Santiago,  a  torn, 

530 


1891-1916]      PURPOSE  OF  THE  SOCIETY  531 

muddy  New  Testament  was  picked  up  on  the  battlefield. 
On  the  fly-leaf  was  written  a  soldier's  name  and  regiment, 
and  a  sentence  which  tells  the  whole  story  of  enlightenment : 
**  J^ly  3^^>  1898.  Trenches  before  San  Juan  after  night  at- 
tack :     This  book  has  been  a  great  comfort  to  me." 

It  was  before  the  eyes  of  the  members  of  the  Society  at 
the  very  beginning  that  concentrated  action  is  powerful  and 
that  a  national  object  unites  national  feeling  and  wins  its 
concurrence.  As  Dr.  Mason  said  in  his  address  to  the  peo- 
ple :  "  The  members  of  the  Society  claim  their  place  in  this 
new  age  of  Bibles."  The  one  purpose  before  their  minds 
enabled  them  to  belittle  the  party  lines  of  denominations. 

The  purpose  with  which  the  Society  began  in  1816  was  the 
increase  of  circulation  of  the  Bible  without  note  or  comment. 
It  was  a  beautiful,  poetic  thought  which  led  the  Ancient 
Armenian  Church  to  call  the  Bible  by  a  name  which  has  not 
been  lost  to  this  day.  On  the  back  of  Armenian  Bibles  is 
stamped  in  gold  the  name,  "  The  Breath  of  God."  The  So- 
ciety was  to  send  forth  the  text  of  God's  word  unchanged, 
as  pure  as  it  came  to  their  hands.  Its  work  was  marked  out 
in  the  home  land  as  the  furnishing  of  books  for  preachers 
and  missionaries  at  the  frontier  and  the  carrying  of  them 
where  home  missions  had  not  yet  gone.  Whether  the  people 
to  whom  they  were  taken  were  well-bred  enough  to  appre- 
ciate benevolent  service  and  yet  like  many  in  our  day  care- 
less enough  to  substitute  kindly  acts  to  others  for  personal 
conviction  of  sin  and  repentance  toward  God;  or  whether 
they  were  in  total  ignorance  and  carelessness  as  to  their  need 
of  cleansing  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  purpose  of  the 
Society  was  simply  the  carrying  out  of  the  Saviour's  intent 
that  all  should  know  whatever  he  had  commanded.  So  the 
Society  at  the  very  beginning  stood  between  the  ignorance  of 
people  without  the  gospel  and  their  opportunity  to  receive 
what  they  most  needed.  The  man  with  the  Bible  was  like 
a  friendly  stranger  coming  to  a  traveller  lying  parched  with 
thirst  and  hopeless  on  the  ground  in  one  of  the  salt  deserts 
of  Asia,  and  giving  him  fresh  hope  by  the  news  that  by 
passing  over  one  more  ridge  he  can  find  abundant  water. 

The  method  of  this  work  was  that  of  Jesus  Christ  when 
He  used  to  "  go  on  to  the  next  towns  "  to  carry  the  gospel 


532  THY  ORDINANCES  MY  DELIGHT     [1891- 

to  the  people.  It  was  a  method  that  exhibited  the  simpHcity 
and  entire  practicabiHty  of  the  effort  demanded  by  the  com- 
mand to  teach  the  nations. 

The  Society  hoped  to  find  and  unite  the  best  influences  in 
the  community,  in  the  family,  or  in  the  single  individual,  and 
so  to  urge  on  the  circulation  of  Scriptures  throughout  the 
United  States.  Its  aim  was  simply  to  make  clear  and  un- 
mistakable its  sympathy  for  all  the  people ;  and  the  effect  of 
it  can  hardly  fail  to  be  that  shadowed  in  the  Oriental  prov- 
erb which  says,  "  Go  into  a  crowd  and  beg  some  one  to  carry 
your  burden  and  the  crowd  will  melt  away ;  but  ask  to  bear 
the  burden  of  any  one,  and  you  will  always  find  a  multitude 
about  you."  Some  of  these  were  always  found  to  be  in- 
stantly moved,  some  after  delay.  Joy  was  brought  into 
desolate  homes ;  worthless  men  were  changed  to  helpers. 
And  the  result  of  the  work  throughout  has  been  to  glorify 
God  by  convincing  the  labourers  that  it  was  His  hand  which 
enabled  the  Society  to  place  in  the  United  States  up  to  the 
first  of  January,  1916,  about  70,000,000  copies  of  Scripture, 
besides  those  circulated  in  foreign  lands. 

The  benefits  of  Bible  distribution  have  by  no  means  been 
limited  to  the  descendants  of  the  Americans  who  founded 
the  Society.  These  benefits  have  touched  the  millions  of 
immigrants  flocking  to  our  country  from  almost  all  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth,  the  coloured  people  whose  needs  consti- 
tuted them  a  class  for  special  interest  and  assistance  after 
the  Civil  War,  and  the  American  Indians  who  have  shown 
so  remarkable  readiness  to  receive  the  Bible  in  their  own 
tongues  that  one  of  the  experienced  missionaries  remarked, 
''  God  turned  a  leaf  in  the  history  of  the  Indian  race  when 
the  whole  Bible  was  translated  into  Dakota."  Still  another 
special  class  which  the  Bible  distribution  has  blessed  is  the 
multitude  of  blind  who  are  deprived  of  so  much  that  makes 
for  joy  in  life.  Especially  does  work  for  the  blind  glorify 
God.  Was  not  the  fact  that  the  blind  received  their  sight 
one  of  the  evidences  mentioned  by  our  Lord  to  convince 
John  the  Baptist  in  his  prison  cell  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ? 

The  orders  under  which  the  founders  of  the  Society  acted 
had  reference  to  the  race,  and  not  to  any  one  group  of  per- 
sons.    Naturally,  then,  the  Constitution  of  the  Society  ex- 


I9i6]  AID  TO  MISSIONS  533 

pressed  a  purpose,  according  to  ability,  to  extend  its 
influence  to  all  other  countries,  whether  Christian,  Moham- 
medan, or  pagan.  The  desire  was  expressed  by  the  Board 
in  one  of  its  reports  '*  to  embrace  every  opportunity  to  ray 
out  by  means  of  the  Bible  the  light  of  life  and  immortality 
to  such  parts  of  the  world  as  are  destitute  and  within  reach 
of  the  Society."  It  was  proper  that  the  eagerness  of  the 
Managers  to  do  this  should  at  least  equal  the  eagerness  of 
merchants  who  in  those  days  shipped  New  England  rum  to 
many  ports  in  Asia,  Africa,  and  the  Pacific  Islands. 

The  duty  of  the  Society  was  clear  to  aid  American  mis- 
sions, furnishing  them  books  or  money  for  making  books 
where  translations  were  to  be  made  or  the  printing  press 
bjought  into  action ;  and  wherever  the  missionaries  had  their 
hands  already  full  of  work  to  furnish  them  with  men  who 
would  carry  the  books  far  afield.  This  was  no  little  help 
to  a  work  which  might  have  seemed  hopeless  were  it  not  that 
all  gospel  workers  have  to  remember  the  forces  which  are 
working  in  their  favour  as  certainly  as  the  forces  with  which 
the  Creator  has  endowed  nature.  In  Tennyson's  "  Prin- 
cess "  the  ground  of  such  hope  is  well  suggested  in  the  lines, 
"  No  rock  so  hard  but  that  a  little  wave  may  beat  admission 
in  a  thousand  years."  So  the  Society's  aid  in  Bible  trans- 
lation and  Bible  printing  and  distribution  has  had  a  direct 
influence  upon  the  progress  of  the  m.issions. 

It  is  impossible  to  lay  too  much  emphasis  upon  the  provi- 
dence which  since  1832  has  led  the  Society  to  help  missions 
in  their  translations  and  publications  of  the  Scriptures.  By 
supporting  translators,  by  printing  the  finished  versions,  by 
purchasing  books  from  other  societies  to  furnish  to  Ameri- 
can missions,  theSociety  has  co-operated  with  American  mis- 
sionary societies,  giving  them  Bibles  speaking  in  164  different 
languages,  and  carrying  books  in  the  right  language  to  those 
who  had  no  books.  The  development  of  this  great  feature 
of  the  Society's  work  in  one  hundred  years  is  illustrated  at 
home  by  the  growth  of  its  printing  department  from  the 
twelve  hand  presses  of  1820  to  the  sixteen  power  presses 
now  working  in  the  Bible  House,  at  times  day  and  night,  in 
order  to  keep  up  with  the  demand,  and  abroad  by  other 
presses  engaged  by  the  Society  for  the  same  service  in  Con- 


534  THY  ORDINANCES  MY  DELIGHT     [1891- 

stantinople,  Beirut,  Bangkok,  Shanghai  and  other  centres  in 
China,  Yokohama  in  Japan,  and  Seoul  in  Korea. 

In  these  foreign  lands  the  Society's  Agents  through  their 
colporteurs  study  new  fields,  exploring,  considering  the  lives 
of  the  people,  gauging  their  religious  beliefs,  their  worship, 
and  their  aims  in  life,  their  hopes  and  their  prospects  —  all 
with  a  view  to  betterment  of  their  condition.  Here  the  So- 
ciety's undertaking  is  like  the  Red  Cross  work  in  war  where 
men  are  sent  out  to  carry  bandages  and  instruments  and 
remedies,  in  a  labour  of  compassion  for  helpless  sufferers  to 
be  sought  out  on  the  very  battlefield.  In  olden  times  God 
spoke  by  the  prophets ;  now  He  speaks  by  the  Bible.  The 
word  delivered  through  the  prophets  pulled  down  and  de^ 
stroyed  social  systems.  Now  the  written  word  in  the  Bible 
published  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  builds  up  a  new  social 
organisation  upon  a  solid  and  enduring  foundation.  It  was 
well  said  by  Rev.  P.  F.  Leavens  that ''  The  sudden  and  rapid 
ingrafting  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  upon  the  living  lan- 
guages of  the  world  is  a  main  feature  in  the  providential 
plan  to  fill  the  earth  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord." 

What  makes  the  work  abroad  reasonable  and  obligatory  is 
the  fact  that  the  people  of  the  lands  where  the  Bible  is  not 
known  are  exactly  like  ourselves  in  nature  and  aspiration, 
excepting  that  they  have  no  light  on  the  path  wherein  they 
would  go.  A  nation  which  does  not  know  the  Bible  knows 
neither  peace  nor  content.  "  The  Bible  is  not  an  aid  to  the 
people's  liberty;  it  is  the  very  substance  of  the  structure 
from  foundation  up."  The  effect  of  taking  the  Bible  into 
these  foreign  lands  is  that  peace  and  security  are  now  found 
in  many  places  where  they  were  never  before  known,  and 
the  help  of  the  God  of  love  is  now  enjoyed  where  men  used 
vainly  to  seek  help  from  a  block  of  carved  wood  or  stone. 
By  the  divine  leading  the  Society  has  become  a  foreign  mis- 
sionary society  indispensable  to  the  success  of  other  Ameri- 
can foreign  missionary  societies,  although  it  was  organised 
primarily  with  a  view  to  home  missions. 

We  have  mentioned  the  millions  of  Scriptures  which  have 
been  placed  in  the  home  field  of  the  Society  during  these 
hundred  years.  In  its  foreign  field,  according  to  a  conserva- 
tive estimate,  it  has  distributed  some  45,000,000  volumes  over 


I9i6]  RESULTS  OF  BIBLE  WORK  535 

many  lands  in  four  continents.  This  great  mass  of  Scrip- 
tures has  a  direct  relation  to  the  success  of  missionaries  in 
the  field.  Expressions  are  continually  coming  to  the  Bible 
House  like  this  from  the  great  missions  of  the  American 
Board  in  Turkey,  which  say,  **  The  history  and  the  work  of 
missionary  Society  and  Bible  Society  are  so  interwoven  that 
we  feel  that  our  annual  meeting  is  in  a  good  degree  a  report 
of  your  work  also."  A  Secretary  of  the  American  Board 
spoke  of  the  Bible  Society  as  "  The  twin  propeller  of  mis- 
sions." The  Methodist  Episcopal  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions has  told  its  constituency  concerning  the  Society,  **  It  is 
the  indispensable  and  efficient  ally  in  missionary  work 
throughout  the  world."  The  Presbyterian  General  Assem- 
bly has  said  of  the  Bible  Society,  "  It  is  more  than  ever 
needed  now,"  and  the  organ  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Do- 
mestic and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  mentioned  not  so 
long  ago  that  "  Missions  of  the  Church  are  dependent  on  the 
Bible  Society  for  help."  The  United  Presbyterian  mission- 
aries on  the  Sobat  River  in  the  Soudan,  speaking  of  the 
Gospel  in  Shulla  printed  by  the  Society,  remark  that  it  makes 
evangelism  more  simple  and  more  forceful  since  the  message 
becomes  both  audible  and  visible.  Similar  friendly  words 
might  be  quoted  from  Baptist  missions,  from  missions  of  the 
Friends,  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America,  and  of  other 
denominations. 

In  reading  the  histor}^  of  what  the  Bible  has  been  doing 
at  home  and  in  many  foreign  lands  during  a  century  of 
labour,  it  were  well  if  the  reader,  like  Moses,  might  be  im- 
pelled to  turn  aside  and  see  this  wonderful  thing.  The  use 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  makes  of  Scripture  is  truly  wonderful. 
A  Hottentot  girl  in  a  missionary  school,  rebelling  against  the 
restraints  of  the  quiet  life,  one  night  prepared  to  escape  to 
her  heathen  home  and  its  freedom.  Collecting  her  few  pos- 
sessions, she  tossed  her  Bible  on  the  floor.  It  fell  open  and 
she  instinctively  turned  to  lay  it  on  a  table.  As  she  took  it 
up  Pilate's  appeal  to  the  Jews,  *'  Shall  I  crucify  your  King?  " 
smote  her  heart.  She  was  doing  just  that  thing,  crucifying 
Jesus  Christ  afresh.  That  verse  tamed  the  girl's  wild  spirit 
and  made  her  an  humble  servant  of  Christ.  The  revelation 
of  God's  love  has  come  to  more  than  one  Siamese  through 


536  THY  ORDINANCES  MY  DELIGHT     [1891- 

the  last  verse  of  the  book  of  Jonah,  where  His  compassion 
is  emphasised  even  in  the  last  clause  of  the  verse.  A  Fiji 
Islander  told  his  missionary  guide  that  the  word  which  won 
his  allegiance  to  Jesus  Christ  was  the  word  which  we  know 
has  won  many  an  American,  "  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that 
labour  and  are. heavy  laden  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  The 
decisive  moment  in  the  life  of  Joseph  Neesima,  the  Christian 
educator  in  Japan,  was  reached  when  his  eyes  fell  upon  the 
first  verse  of  Genesis,  ''  In  the  beginning  God  .  .  ."  For 
years  of  patient  hope  Dr.  Morrison,  the  translator  of  the 
Bible,  was  rewarded  when  his  Chinese  scribe,  Leang  Afa, 
confessed  faith  in  Christ.  The  verse  which  led  to  this 
Chinaman's  decision  was  that  great  verse  in  the  Gospel  of 
St.  John,  "  For  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His 
only  begotten  Son  that  whosoever  believeth  on  Him  should 
not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life."  A  proud  Brahman  in 
India,  after  seeking  in  vain  rest  to  his  soul  in  the  holy  writ- 
ings of  his  own  people,  chanced  upon  a  New  Testament  and 
found  what  he  sought  when  Jesus  Christ  there  said  to  him, 
"  I  am  the  door;  by  me  if  any  one  enter  in  he  shall  be  saved 
and  shall  go  in  and  out  and  find  pasture."  By  a  thousand 
proofs  brought  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  the  original  simple 
purpose  of  increasing  the  circulation  of  the  Bible  has  thus 
redounded  to  the  glory  of  God  by  drawing  attention  to  its 
power. 

The  Bible  has  now  become  the  most  popular  book  in  the 
world.  "  The  sun  never  sets  on  its  gleaming  page.  In  all 
countries  it  is  the  awakener  of  spiritual  life,  the  creator  of 
lofty  ideals,  and  the  messenger  which  brings  the  soul  into 
fellowship  with  Jesus  Christ."  In  all  missions  to-day  anx- 
iety is  banished  about  possessing  Scriptures  adequate  to 
need,  about  purity  of  the  text,  or  about  means  of  preserving 
that  purity  —  these  great  interests  are  safe  in  the  hands  of 
the  Bible  Societies.  To  share  in  the  great  enterprise  which 
accomplishes  such  results  is  a  privilege,  and  an  act  of  wor- 
shipful service  of  God  who  has  made  the  Bible  Society  His 
instrument. 

Happiness  and  perennial  joy  go  with  those  who  strive  to 
increase  the  circulation  of  the  Bible  in  obedience  to  our 
Lord's  command.     The  nature  of  the  command  ensures  this, 


igi6]  LESSONS  OF  THE  CENTURY  537 

for  its  source  is  love  and  its  fruit  is  peace.  The  nature  of 
the  human  heart  impHes  the  same  result,  for  all  workers  in 
the  Bible  cause  will  say  that  no  satisfaction  can  equal  that 
of  conscience  in  the  doing  of  the  right  thing.  The  Society 
to-day  has  a  great  background  —  a  past  that  is  rich  in  ex- 
perience. As  we  turn  over  the  pages  of  this  history  and 
seek  its  teachings  our  conviction  is  fixed  that  the  Lord  is  the 
helper  of  this  enterprise  that  glorifies  Him.  The  political 
world  has  undergone  changes  since  the  Society's  infancy 
which  would  have  seemed  incredible  to  the  members  of  the 
organising  convention,  if  a  prophet  had  foretold  them. 
Practically  all  nations  are  open  to  Bible  distribution.  The 
stupendous  changes  yet  to  come  are  vaguely  foreseen  as  men 
watch  the  terrible  devastations  of  universal  war  convulsing 
the  eastern  hemisphere.  But  past  experience  proves  that 
when  God  overturns  and  overturns  He  brings  out  of  catas- 
trophe new  things  better  than  men  ask  or  think.  There  are 
greater  works  before  us. 

And  so  at  the  end  of  a  hundred  years  all  members  and  sup- 
porters of  the  American  Bible  Society,  still  watchful,  alert 
as  Jacob  when  he  wrestled  for  the  blessing,  untired  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  great  Command,  can  say  with  the  Psalmist, 
*'  Lord,  thy  ordinances  are  my  delight." 


APPENDIX  I 

MEMBERS   OF  THE   CONVENTION    IN    1816   WHICH   FORMED  THE 

SOCIETY 

Bassett,  Rev.  John,  D.D.,  Bushwick,  N.  Y. 

Bayard,   Samuel,   Princeton,  N.  J. 

Beecher,  Rev.  Lyman,  Secretary  of  the  Convention,  Litchfield, 

Conn. 
Biggs.  Thomas  J.,  Nassau  Hall,  Princeton,  N.  J. 
Blatchford,  Rev.  Samuel,  D.D.,  Lansingburg,  N.  Y. 
Blythe,  Rev.  James,  D.D.,  Lexington,  Ky. 
Bogart,  Rev.  David  S.,  Long  Island,  N.  J. 
Bradford,  Rev.  John  M.,  D.D.,  Albany,  N.  Y. 
Burd,  William,  Lynchburg,  Va. 
Caldwell,  John  E.,  New  York. 
Callender,  Levi,  Catskill,  N.  Y. 
Chester,  Rev.  John,  Albany,  N.  Y. 
Clarke,  Matthew  St.  Clair,  Chambersburg,  Pa. 
Cooley,  Rev.  Eli  P.,  Cooperstown,  N.  Y. 
Cooper,  James  Fenimore,  Cooperstown,  N.  Y. 
Day,  Orfin,  Catskill,  N.  Y. 
Eddy,  Thomas,  New  York. 
Ford,  Henry,  Cayuga  County,  N.  Y. 
Forrest,  Rev.  Robert,  Delaware  County,  N.  Y. 
Griscom,  John,  New  York. 
Hall,  Rev.  James,  D.D.,  Statesville,  N.  C. 
Henshaw,  Rev.  J.  P.  K.,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Hornblower,  Joseph  C,  Newark,  N.  J. 
Humphrey,  Rev.  Heman,  Fairfield,  Conn. 
Jay,  William,  Bedford,  N.  Y. 
Jones,  Rev.  David,  Newark,  N.  J. 
Lewis,  Rev.  Isaac,  D.D.,  Greenwich,  Conn. 
Linklaen,  Gen.  John,  Cazenovia,  N.  Y. 
McDowell,  Rev.  John,  Elizabethtown,  N.  J. 
Mason,  Rev.  John  M.,  D.D.,  New  York. 
Milledoler,  Rev.  Philip,  D.D.,  New  York. 
Morse,  Rev.  Jedediah,  D.D.,  Charlestown,  Mass. 
Mott,  Valentine,  M.  D.,  New  York. 
Mulligan,  William  C,  New  York. 

538 


APPENDIX  I  539 

Murray,  John,  Jr.,  New  York. 

Neil,  Rev.  John,  D.D.,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

Nott,  Rev.  Eliphalet,  D.D.,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

Oliver,  Rev.  Andrew,  Springfield,  N.  Y. 

Piatt,  Isaac  W.,  Nassau  Hall,  Princeton,  N.  J. 

Proudfit,  Rev.  Alexander,  D.D.,  Salem,  N.  Y. 

Rice,  Rev.  John  H.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Richards,  Rev.  James,  D.D.,  Newark,  N.  J. 

Romeyn,  Rev.  John  B.,  D.  D.,  Secretary  of  the  Convention,  New 

York. 
Sands,  Joshua,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Sayres,  Rev.  Gilbert  H.,  Jamaica,  N.  Y. 
Sedgwick,  Robert,  New  York. 
Skinner,  Ichabod,  Conn. 

Spring,  Rev.  Samuel,  D.D.,  Newburyport,  Mass. 
Spring,  Rev.  Gardiner,  New  York. 
Swift,  Gen.  Joseph  G.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Taylor,  Rev.  Nathaniel  W.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 
Van  Sinderen,  Adrian,  Newton,  N.  Y. 
Vroom,  Guysbert,  B.,  New  York. 
Wallace,  Joshua  M.,  President  of  the  Convention,  Burlington, 

N.J. 
Warner,  Henry  W.,  New  York. 
Williams,  Rev.  John,  New  York. 
Williams,  William,  Vernon,  N.  Y. 
Wilmur,  Rev.  Simon,  Swedesboro,  N.  J. 
Woodhull,  Rev.  George  S.,  Cranberry,  N.  J. 
Wright,  Charles,  Flushing,  N.  Y. 


APPENDIX  II 

TABLE  OF  EARLY  GRANTS    MADE   BY  THE  AMERICAN   BIBLE   SOCIETY 
FOR   FOREIGN    LANDS  ^ 

Bibles  in  different  languages     7,824  volumes 
New  Testaments  and  portions  31,032  volumes 


Total  38,856         "    valued  at  $17,905.44 

GRANTS   OF   MONEY  2 

In  the  2nd  year: 

Mr.  F.  Leo,  Paris  $     500. 

Rev.  Mr.  Dencke  for  translating  the  Epistle  of  John        100. 
In  the  yth  year: 

American  Missionaries  in  Ceylon  500. 

Missionaries  in  Serampore  i>033-75 

In  the  loth  year: 

American  Missionaries  at  Malta  for  Arabic  Scrip- 
tures 800.    . 
In  the  13  year: 

Rev.  Jonas  King,  Athens,  for  Greek  Scriptures  49444 

In  the  14th  year: 

Baptist  General  Convention  for  Burmese  Scriptures     1,200. 
In  the  15th  year: 

American  Board  for  missions  in  Ceylon  600. 


Total  money  grants  5^228.19 

Aggregate  of  both  together  $23,133.63 

1  Including   grants    for   American   Indians,   then   considered    for- 
eigners. 

2  Statement  of  Mr.  John  Nitchie,  Gen.  Agent,  Nov.  10,  1831.     Man- 
agers Minutes,  Vol.  4,  p.  371. 


540 


APPENDIX  III 

PRESIDENTS   OF  THE   SOCIETY 

William  H.  Allen,  LL.D.,  1872-1880 

Hon.  Elias  Boudinot,  LL.D.,  1816-1821 

Hon.  Luther  Bradish,  LL.D.,  1862-1863 

Theophilus  A.  Brouwer,  1909-1911 

Hon.  Enoch  L.  Fancher,  LL.D.,  1885-1900 

Hon.  Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen,  1884-1885 

Hon.  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  LL.D.,  1846-1862 

Daniel  Coit  Oilman,  LL.D.,  1903-1908 

Hon.  John  Jay,  LL.D.,  1821-1827 

James  Lenox,  Esq.,  1864-1871 

Hon.  John  Cotton  Smith,  LL.D.,  1831-1845 

Hon.  Richard  Varick,   1828-1831 

Hon.  S.  Wells  Williams,  LL.D.,  1881-1884 

James  Wood,  Esq.,  19H- 


541 


APPENDIX  IV 

VICE-PRESIDENTS    OF    THE    SOCIETY 

Hon.  John  Quincy  Adams,  1818-1848 
William  H.  Allen,  LL.D.,  1881-1883 
Joshua  L.  Baily,  Esq.,  1913- 
Hon.  Charles  J.  Baker,  1892-1894 
Hon.  Simeon  E.  Baldwin,  LL.D.,  1915- 
Samuel  Bayard,  Esq.,  1831-1840 
Hon.  E.  E.  Beard,   1892- 
Hon.  James  A.  Beaver,  1896-1914 
Hon.  John  M.  Berrien,  1844-1855 
Marshall  S.  Bidwell,  Esq.,  1871-1872 
George  I.  Bodine,  Esq.,  1910-1913 
John  Bolton,  Esq.,  1816-1839 
Hon.  Luther  Bradish,  1848 — Pres.  1862 
Hon.  David  Josiah  Brewer,  1893-1909 
Elbert  A.  Brinckerhoff,  Esq.,  1894-1913 
Theophilus  A.  Brouwer,  Esq.,  1886 — Pres.  1909 
George  Brown,  Esq.,   1851-1860 
James  M.  Brown,  Esq.,  1882-1890 
Richard  P.  Buck,  Esq.,  1871-1884 
Hon.  William  A.  Buckingham,  1865-1875 
Hon.  Duncan  Cameron,  1821-1853 
Hon.  Samuel  B.  Capen,  LL.D.,  1903-1914 
Hon.  James  H.  Carlisle,  LL.D.,  1888-1909 
Isaac  Carow,  Esq.,  1842-1850 
Robert  Carter,  Esq.,  1878-1889 
Thomas  B.  Carter,  Esq.,  1889-1898 
Hon,  J.  L.  Chamberlain,  1871-1914 
Aristarchus  Champion,  Esq.,  1844-1871 
Hon.  Salmon  P.  Chase,  1865-1873 
Charles  Chauncey,  Esq.,  1848-1859 
B.  Preston  Clark,  Esq.,  1915- 
Gen.  Matthew  Clarkson,   1816-1825 
Hon.  DeWitt  Clinton,   1818-1828 
Hon.  David  Clopton,  1887-1892 
Thomas  Cock,  M.D.,  1839-1869 

542 


APPENDIX  IV  543 

Gen.  John  H.  Cocke,  1 844-1 866 

Hon.  Francis  M.  Cockrell,  1879- 

William  B.  Crosby,  Esq.,  1853-1865 

William  H.  Crosby,  Esq.,  1882-1892 

Hon.  Paul  Dillingham,  1871-1891 

Hon.  William  P.  Dillingham,  1892- 

Capt.  Robert  Dollar,  1915- 

D.  B.  Douglass,  Esq.,  1844-1845 

George  Douglass,  Esq.,  1859-1862 

Hon.  Francis  B.  Drake,  1896-1904 

Hon.  Robert  P.  Dunlap,  1 837-1860 

Hon.  Edward  H.  East,  1894-1905 

Hon.  W.  W.  Ellsworth,  1849-1868 

Hon.  Enoch  L.  Fancher,  LL.D.,  1867— Pres.  1885 

Hon.  Charles  W.  Fairbanks,  1915- 

John  Forrest,  M.D.,  191 5- 

Hiram  Forrester,  Esq.,  1882-1888 

Hon.  John  W.  Foster,  1880- 

Hon.  Lafayette  S.  Foster,  1878-1880 

Hon.  Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen,  1864 — Pres.  1884 

Hon.  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  1831 — Pres.  1846 

James  N.  Gamble,  Esq.,  1915- 

William  Gammell,  Esq.,  LL.D.,  1885-1889 

Freeborn  Garretson,  Esq.,  1848-1866 

Hon.  Merrill  E.  Gates,  1894- 

Hon.  Daniel  Coit  Gilman,  1896 — Pres.  1903 

Hon.  Charles  Goldsborough,  1819-1835 

Hon.  Grant  Goodrich,  1866-1889 

Hon.  Simon  Greenleaf,   1849-1853 

John  Griscom,  Esq.,  LL.D.,  1851-1852 

Felix  Grundy,  Esq.,  1816-1841 

Francis  Hall,  Esq.,  1853-1866 

W.  T.  Hardie,  Esq.,  1908- 

Hon.  Benjamin  Harrison,  1896-1901 

Hon.  A.  B.  Hasbrouck,  1851-1879 

Hon.  Henry  P.  Haven,  1875-1876 

Hon.  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  1880-1893 

Alexander  Henry,  Esq.,  1837-1847 

Horace  Hitchcock,  Esq.,  1896-1904 

Hon.  Jesse  L.  Holman,  1 837-1842 

Hon.  Joseph  C.  Hornblower,  1840-1864 

Maj.  Gen.  O.  O.  Howard,  1871-1909 

Tames  M.  Hoyt,  Esq.,  1 866-1 895 

Hon.  Charles  E.  Hughes.  LL.D.,  1915- 

Hon.  James  Jackson,  1879-1887 


544  APPENDIX  IV 

Hon.  John  Jay,  1816 — Pres.  1821 

Hon.  John  Jay,  1885-1894 

Peter  A.  Jay,  Esq.,  1 828-1 843 

Hon.  WilHam  Jay,  1 843-1858 

Francis  S.  Key,  Esq.,  1818-1843 

Francis  T.  King,  Esq.,  1868-1891 

Hon.  Andrew  Kirkpatrick,  1818-1831 

Judge  J.  F.  Lamb,  1908- 

John  Langdon,  Esq.,  1816-1820 

Hon.  Abbott  Lawrence,  1849-1855 

J.  Edgar  Leaycraft,  Esq.,  1914- 

James  Lenox,  Esq.,  1853 — Pres.  1864 

Joshua  Levering,  Esq.,  191 5- 

Zechariah  Lewis,  Esq.,  1839-1841 

Hon.  Heman  Lincoln,  1831-1869 

Hon.  Joseph  Lumpkin,  1853-1867 

Hon.  James  McDowell,  1849-1852 

William  M'Elroy,  Esq.,  1880-1887 

Hon.  Edward  McGehee,  1849-1881 

Hon.  James  B.  M'Kean,  1867-1879 

Hon.  John   M'Lean,   1837-1861 

Hon.  R.  B.  Magruder,  1 839-1 844 

Hon.  Charles  Marsh,  1824-1849 

Hon.  John  Marshall,  1830-1836 

Christopher  Matthewson,  Esq.,  1915- 

James  A.  Maybin,  Esq.,  1853-1876 

Hon.  Horace  Maynard,  1 873-1 882 

Hon.  C.  G.  Memminger,   1873-1885 

Annis  Merrill,  Esq.,  LL.D.,  1890-1905 

Hon.  W.  H.  Millsaps,  1908- 

Hon.  David  Lawrence  Morrill,  1821-1849 

Hon.  Joacquin  Mosquera,  1833-1844 

John  R.  Mott,  LL.D.,  191 5- 

Hon.  Daniel  Murray,  1818-1820 

Hon.  E.  A.  Newton,  1851-1862 

Hon.  Wm.  J.  Northen,  1894-1913 

Cyrus  Northrop,  LL.D.,  1886- 

Joseph  Nourse,  Esq.,  1816-1842 

John  Belton  O'Neall,  Esq.,  1857-1865 

Cortlandt  Parker,  Esq.,  1871-1907 

Pelatiah  Perit,  Esq.,  1859-1863 

Myron  Phelps,  Esq.,   1852-1878 

Hon.  William  Phillips,  1820-1828 

Hon.  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney,  1816-1826;  1837-1864. 

Hon.  John  Pintard,  1832-1844 


APPENDIX  IV  545 


Robert  Ralston,  Esq.,  1828-1837 

Judge  Robert  F.  Raymond,  19 15- 

Judge  George  G.  Reynolds,  1908-1913 

Samuel  Rhea,  Esq.,  1842-1865 

William  A.  Robinson,  Esq.,  1894- 

Gen.  Francisco  De  Paula  Santander,  1832-1840 

Matthew  T.  Scott,  Esq.,  1853-1858 

Hon.  H.  H.  Seldomridge,  1915- 

E.  H.   Sholl,  Esq.,   1908- 

Hon.  Jacob  Sleeper,   1864-1889 

Hon.  John  B.  Smith,  1895-1914 

Hon.  John  Cotton  Smith,  i8i6--Pres.  1832 

Hon.  Edward  Spalding,  LL.D.,  1887-1895 

Hon.  Alden  Speare,  1901-1902 

Frank  E.  Spooner,  Esq.,  1907- 

John  Noble  Stearns,  Esq.,  1894-1907 

Caleb  Strong,  Esq.,  1816-1820 

Hon.  Wm.  Strong,  LL.D.,  1871-1895 

George  H.  Stuart,  Esq.,  1866-1889 

Peter  G.  Stuyvesant,  Esq.,  1 839-1847 

George  Suckley,  Esq.,  1 839-1 846 

James  Suydam,  Esq.,  1866-1872 

Benjamin  L.  Swan,  Esq.,  1853-1866 

Hon.  David  L.  Swain,  1853-1869 

Augustus  Taber,  Esq.,  1 890-1 898 

James  H.  Taft,  Esq.,  1890-1906 

John  Tappan,  Esq.,  1842-1871 

Hon.  Smith  Thompson,  1816-1843 

Hon.  William  Tilghman,  1816-1827 

Hon.  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  1816-1825 

Charles  Tracy,  Esq.,  1873-1885 

Charles  E.  Tracy,  Esq.,  1895-1896 

Hon.  Allen  Trimble,  1 844-1869 

Robert  Troup,  Esq.,  1825-1832 

C.  C.  Trowbridge,  Esq.,  1871-1883 

Ezra  B.  Tuttle,  Esq.,  1913-1914 

Hon.  Howard  Van  Epps,  1889-1909 

Stephen  Van  Rensselaer.  Esq.,  1828-1839 

Hubert  Van  Wagenen.  Esq.,  1843-1852 

Col.  Richard  Varick.  1820— Pres.  1828 

Hon.  Peter  D.  Vroom,  1839-1873 

A.  R.  Walsh,  Esq.,  1867-1884 

Hon.  R.  H.  Walworth,  1851-1867 

Hon.  Bushrod  Washington,  181 6-1830 


546  APPENDIX  IV 

George  W.  Watts,  Esq.,  1908- 

Hon.  James  Whitcomb,  1851-1852 

Norman  White,  Esq.,  1 865-1 883 

William  Whitlock,  Jr.,  Esq.,  1864-1875 

Hon.  Elisha  Whittlesey,  1857-1863 

John  L.  Williams,  Esq.,  1907-1915 

Gen.  William  Williams,  1864-1870 

F.  S.  Winston,  Esq.,  1865-1884 

Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  LL.D.,  1864-1894 

F.  H.  Wolcott,  Esq.,  1873-1883 

James  Wood,  Esq.,  1903 — Pres.  191 1 

William  W.  Woolsey,  Esq.,  1828-1840 

Hon.  Thomas  Worthington,  1816-1828 

Hon.  George  G.  Wright,  1871-1896 

Hon.  Joseph  A.  Wright,  1854-1867 


APPENDIX  V 

MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF   MANAGERS 

John  Adams,  1819 — Treasurer  1828 
John  Agnew,  1826-1828 
George  Arcularius,   1819-1820 
Henry  M.  Alexander,  1873-1878 
C.  Edgar  Anderson,  191 1- 
Andrew  C.  Armstrong,  1875-1900 
John  Aspinwall,  1816-1847 
William  H.  Aspinwall,  1842-1875 
Daniel  Ayres,  1839-1840 
Joshua  L.  Baily,  1905 — V.  P.  1913 
Henry  J.  Baker,  1 860-1 875 
James  S.  Baker,  1 894-1905 
James  L.  Banks,  M.D.,  1868-1883 
Albert  S.  Barnes,  1872-1873 
William  Bayard,  1816 — Declined 
George  D.  Beatys,  1903- 
Gerard  Beekman,  1892- 
Stephen  D.  Beekman,  1823-1827 
Robert  L.  Belknap,  1879-1896 
Waldron  P.  Belknap,  191 1- 
Divie  Bethune,  1816-1825 
Marshall  S.  Bidwell,  1857— V.  P.  1871 
Edward  Kirk  Billings,  1899-1908 
John  Bingham,  1816-1834 
Jacob  Binninger,  1821-1828 
Nathan  Bishop,  1865-1881 
Garrat  N.  Bleecker,  1830-1834 
Leonard  Bleecker,  1816-1837 
Cornelius  N.  Bliss,  1883-1884 
Henry  W.  Bookstaver,  1886-1891 
James  Boorman,  1834-1854 
William  T.  Booth,  1874-1911 
Samuel  W.  Bowne.  1897-1898 
Samuel  Boyd,  1816-1839 
Elbert  A.  Brinckerhoff,  1877— V.  P.  1894 
Theophilus  A.  Brouwer,  1864— V.  P.  1886 
James  M.  Brown,  1867— V.  P.  1882 
John  Crosby  Brown,  1877-1882;  1884-1903 

547 


548  APPENDIX  V 

Silas  B.  Brownell,  1912- 
Richard  P.  Buck,  1862— V.  P.  1871 
Ebenezer  Burrill,  1816— Declined 
Duncan  P.  Campbell,  1816-1821 
James  G.  Cannon,  1911-1912 
Isaac  Carow,  1816— V.  P.  1842 
Thomas  Carpenter,  1816-1825 
Robert  Carter,  1855— V.  P.  1878 
John  Cauldwell,  1816-1822 
William  A.  Cauldwell,  1880-1882 
William  N.  Chadwick,  1834-1842 
Charles  Chauncey,  1821-1843 
Benjamin  Clark,  1818-1834 
Matthew  Clarkson,  1898-1899 
De  Witt  Clinton,  1816— V.  P.  1818 
Thomas  Cock,  M.D.,  1834— V.  P.  1839 
Bowles  Colgate,  1 876-1886 
George  Colgate,  1834-1837 
William  Colgate,   1822-1837 
Isaac  Collins,  1820-1827 
Thomas  Collins,  1816-1818 
John  B.  Cornell,  1885-1888 
Jasper  Corning,  1834-1835. 
J.  D.  Kurtz  Crook,  1889-1897 
William  B.  Crosby,  1830— V.  P.  1853 
William  H.  Crosby,  1864-V.  P.  1882 
Stephen  Crowell,   1869-1876 
S.  Van  Rensselaer  Cruger,  1875-1898 
A.  P.  Cummings,  1849-1871 
Churchill  H.  Cutting,  1882-. 
Thomas  Darling,  1827-1840 
John  B.  Dash,  1819-1821 
George  W.  Davidson,  1915- 
Henry  G.  De  Forest,  1875-1888 
Robert  W.  DeForest,  1888-1893 
Edward  Delafield,  M.  D.,  1825-1831 
Frederick  Depeyster,  1816-1819 
Henry  Dickinson,  1866-1895 
Gabriel  P.  Disosway,  1838-1869 
William  E.  Dodge,  1 858-1 883 
William  E.  Dodge,  1883-1887 
James  W.  Dominick,  1830-1852 
James  W.  Dominick,  1853-1880 
James  Donaldson,  1841-1872 


APPENDIX  V  549 


George  Douglass,  1829-1841 
Cornelius  Dubois,  Jr.,   1842-1869 
Frederick  S.  Duncan,  1903- 
Theodore  Dvvight,  1819-1837 
John  H.  Earle,  1869-1891 
Thomas  Eddy,  1816-1828 
Franklin  S.  Edmonds,  1914- 
Alfred  Edwards,  1843-1868 
John  Elliott,  1887-1888 
Jeremiah  Evarts,  1816-1831 
William  M.  Evarts,  1858-1862 
Enoch  L.  Fancher,  1859— V.  P.  1867 
Thomas  Farmer,  1816— Declined 
George  J.  Ferry,  1883-1887 
Richard  Fletcher,  1838-1848 
Samuel  A.  Foot,  1843-1847 
William  Forrest,  1832-1865 
Hiram  M.  Forrester,  1866— V.  P.  1882 
Anderson  Fowler,  1903-1904 
Frederick  Frelinghuysen,  1886-1888 
Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  1906-1907 
James  M.  Fuller,  1869-1884 
Andrew  Gifford,  1816-1826 
A.  H.  Gilbert,  1900-1905 
Theodore  Gilman,  1883-1891 
George  Gosman,  1816-1819 
Timothy  R.  Green,  1832-1840 
George  Griffin,  1816-1825 
Tohn  Griscom,  LL.D.,  1828-1834 
Francis  Hall,  1824— V.  P.  1853 
William  Phillips  Hall,  1906- 
Schureman  Halsted,  1855-1869 
Tohn  A.  Hardenbergh,  1894-1898 
William  H.  Harris,  1898- 
Oliver  Harriman,  1885-1889 
John  C.  Havemayer,   1876-1884 
William  Havemeyer,  1820-1830 
Richard  T.  Haines,  1839-1870 
Timothy  Hedges,  1825-1860 
Cornelius  Heyer,  1816-1843 
Richard  M.  Hoe,  191 1- 
Daniel  J.  Holden,  1892-1903 
Horace  Holden,   1835-1862 
Dyer  B.  Holmes,  1911-1913 


550  APPENDIX  V 

Silas  Holmes,  1841-1849 

William  W.  Hoppin,  Jr.,  1874-1879 

S.  S.  Rowland,  1848-1853 

Ezra  P.  Hoyt,  M.D.,  1898-1903 

Oliver  Hoyt,  1877-1887 

William  Hoyt,  1888-1903 

Charles  A.  Hull,  1905-1913 

E.  Francis  Hyde,  1894- 

Henry  A.  Ingraham,  19 15- 

Henry  C.  Ingraham,   1898-1911 

Frederick  Wolcott  Jackson,  1879-1904 

Philip  Nye  Jackson,  1905-1911 

Schuyler  B.  Jackson,  1911-1914 

John  Jay,   1880-V.  P.  1885 

Henry  W.  Jessup,  1901-1905 

William  Johnson,  1816 — Declined 

John  Keese,  1820-1831 

William  Kelly,  1840-1844 

Robert  Lenox  Kennedy,  1871-1873 

A.  B.  Ketchum,  1905-1906 

Rufus  King,  1816— Declined 

Leonard  Kirby,  1853-1854 

Caleb  Knevals,  1870-1900 

William  G.  Lambert,  1864-1883 

George  W.  Lane,  1871-1883 

Thomas  M.  Latimer,  1909- 

James  T.  Leavitt,  1 884-1 894 

J.  Edgar  Leaycraft,  1902 — V.  P.  1914 

James  Lenox,  1838 — V.  P.  1853 

Charles  D.  Leverich,  1897- 

Robert  Lewis,  1888-1891 

Zechariah  Lewis,  1816 — V.  P.  1839 

Eleazar  Lord,  i 827-1 843 

Edgar  MacDonald,  191 1- 

Peter  McCartee,  1816-1819 

Gates  W.  McGarrah,  1909-1911 

John  S.  McLean,  1892-19 11 

G.  S.  Mackenzie,  1907- 

Alexander  Maitland,  1897 — declined;  1899-1907 

Arlando  Marine,  191 1- 

Lewis  D.  Mason,  M.D.,  1909- 

Ralph  Mead,  1840- 1867 

Elbert  B.  Monroe,  1890-1894 

H.  D.  Nicoll,  M.D.,  1894-1908 


APPENDIX  V  551 


Henry  A.  Oakley,  1871-1896 

George  P.  Ockershausen,  1896-1897 

Isaac  Odell,  1868-1886 

Robert  C  Ogden,  1897-1898 

Eben  E.  Olcott,  1914- 

D.  W.  C  Olyphant,  1833-1841 

Alexander  E.  Orr,  1884-1914 

John  E.  Parsons,  1 873-1903 

Robert  B.  Parsons,  1892-1898 

Samuel  Parsons,  1841-1842 

George  Foster  Peabody,  1892-1905 

lames  W.  Pearsall,  1908- 

Frederick  T.  Peet,  1840-1867 

Pelatiah  Perit,  1825— V.  P.  1859 

Anson  G.  Phelps,  1848-1854 

Anson  G.  Phelps,  1854-1858 

George  D.  Phelps,   1848-1872 

James  L.  Phelps,  M.D.,  1826-1869. 

Elijah  Pierson,  1828-1832 

John  S.  Pierson,  1887-1908 

James  A.  Punderford,  1888-1914 

Peter  W.  Radcliff,  1819-1827 

Robert  Ralston,  1816— V.  P.  1828 

Anson  D.  F.  Randolph,  1882-1897 

lames  F.  Randolph,  191 1- 

George  G.  Reynolds,  1887— V.  P.  1908 

Nathaniel  Richards,  1839-1856 

Edward  Richardson,  1838-1858 

John  R.  B.  Rodgers,  1816-1823 

Benjamin  W.  Rogers,  1821-1829 

Henry  Rogers,  1816-1834 

Henry  Roosevelt,  1847-1849 

Daniel  L.  Ross,  1867-1868 

Sheppard  Rowland,  1906-1908 

Archibald  Russell,  1840-1871 

Henry  Rutgers,  1816-1830 

Joshua  Sands,   1816-1819 

William  J.  Schieffelin.  1896- 

T.  G.  Sellew,  1889-1913 

George  I.  Seney,   1865-1875 

John   Sergeant,   1830-1848 

Thomas  L.  Servoss.  1838-1849 

Smith  Sheldon.  1872-1884 

Thomas  Shields,  1816-1821 


552  APPENDIX  V 

Lemuel  Skidmore,  1 884-1 892 

William  L.  Skidmore,  1877-1897 

John  Slosson,  1 843-1 848 

William  Alexander  Smith,   1882-1883 

William  A.  Spencer,  1849-1854 

William  H.  Spencer,  1912- 

John  P.  Stagg,  1834-1836 

Edmund  D.  Stanton,  1873-1874 

Chandler  Starr,  1853-1857;  1861-1876 

Henry  S.  Stearns,  M.D.,  1899- 

John  Noble  Stearns,  1874 — V.  P.  1894 

William  F.  Stearns,  1873-1874 

George  E.  Sterry,  1891-1908 

John  A.  Stewart,  1878-189 1 

Thomas  Stokes,  1816-1833 

J.  Marshall  Stuart,  1913- 

Frederick  Sturges,  1875-1911 

Jonathan  Sturges,  1853-1874 

Peter  G.  Stuyvesant,  1831— V.  P.  1839 

George  Suckley,  1816 — V.  P.  1839 

James  Suydam,  1848— V.  P.  1866 

Benjamin  L.  Swan,  1828 — V.  P.  1853 

J.  G.  Swift,  1816-1828 

Augustus  Taber,  1868— V.  P.  T890 

John  R.  Taber,  1905- 

James  H.  Taft,  1871— V.  P.  1890 

Charles  N.  Talbot,  1848-1872 

Arthur  Tappan,  1828-1834 

Jeremiah  H.  Taylor,  1838-1840 

Najah  Taylor,  1 828-1 860 

Edward  P.  Tenney,  1898-1912 

Charles  Tracy,  1850— V.  P.  1873 

Charles  E.  Tracy,  1885— V.  P.  1895 

Charles  H.  Trask,  1884-1897 

John  Truslow,  1890-1903 

Frederic  M.  Turner,  1905-1912 

Ezra  B.  Tuttle,  1893— V.  P-  I9I3 

Winthrop  M.  Tuttle,  1915- 

Charles  Unangst,  1915- 

Joshua  M.  Van  Cott,   1873-1876 

Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  1883-1884 

Abraham  Van  Nest,  1831-1832 

Alexander  Van  Rensselaer,  1853-1878 

Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  1816— V.  P.  1828 


APPENDIX  V  553 


Adrian  Van  Sinderen,  1830-1838 
Hubert  Van  Wagenen,  1823-1836 
Washington  R.  Vermilye.  i'853-i876 

A.  R.  Walsh,  1843— V.  P.  1867 
Samuel  Ward,  1835-1838 
John  Warder,  1816-1828 
George  Warner,  1816-1825 
John  H.  Washburn,  1895-1899 
John  Watts,  M.D..  1816-1831 
Norman  White,  1840— V.  P.  1865 
Thomas  Whitaker,  1897-1914 
James  Wiggins,  1909-1913 

S.  V.  S.  Wilder,  1831-1843 
Marinus  Willet,  M.D.,  1831-1841 
Mornay  Williams,   191 5- 
Peter  Wilson,  1816-1819 
F.  S.  Winston,  1839— V.  P.  1865 
William  Winterton,   1833-1837 
Francis  B.  Winthrop,  1819-1823 
F.  H.  Wolcott.  1852— V.  P.  1873 
John  David  Wolfe.  1854-1869 
"Howard  O.  Wood,  19 13- 
Isaac  Wood,  M.D.,  1 842-1868 
James  Wood,  1896 — V.  P.  1903 
William  H.  S.  W^ood,  187&-1894 

B.  L.  Woolley,  1836-1850 
Edward  T-  Woolsey,  1 844-1872 

William  W.  Woolsey,  181 6— Treasurer  1820 
Charles  Wright,  1816-1820 
O.  F.  Zollikoffer,  1896-1897 


APPENDIX  VI 

CORRESPONDING   SECRETARIES    OF   THE   SOCIETY 

Rev.  Nathan  Bangs,  D.D.,  1827-1829 

Rev.  John  C  Brigham,  D.D.,  1827-1862 

Rev.  Spencer  H.  Cone,  D.D.,  1833-1836 

Rev.  John  Fox,  D.D.,  1898- 

Rev.  Edward  W.  Oilman,  D.D.,  1871-1900 

Rev.  William  I.  Haven,  D.D.,  1898- 

Rev.  Joseph  Holdich,  D.D,  1849-1878 

Rev.  Albert  S.  Hunt,  D.D.,  1878-1898 

Rev.  Edward  P.  Ingersoll,  D.D.,  1901-1906 

Rev.  Thomas  McAuley,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1825-1839 

Rev.  Alexander  McLean,  D.D.,  1874-1898 

Rev.  James  H.  McNeill,   1853-1861 

Rev.  John  M.  Mason,  D.D.,  1816-1820 

Rev.  James  Milnor,  D.D.,  1819-1840 

Rev.  Samuel  Irenaeus  Prime,  D.D.,  1849-1850 

Rev.  John  B.  Romeyn,  D.D.,  1816-1819 

Rev.  T.  Ralston  Smith,  D.D.,  1866-1871 

Rev.  Charles  G.  Sommers,  D.D.,  1825-1833 

Rev.  Joseph  C.  Stiles,   1850-1852 

Rev.  Wm.  J.  R.  Taylor,  D.D.,  1874-1892 

Rev.  Selah  Strong  Woodhull,  D.D.,  1820-1825 

FINANCIAL    SECRETARY 

Rev.  Edmund  S.  Janes,  D.D.,  1840-1844 
Rev.  Noah  Levings,  1 844-1 849 

TREASURERS 

John  Adams,  Esq.,  1828-1832 
Garrett  N.  Bleecker,  Esq.,  1832 
William  Foulke,  Esq.,  1886- 
Abraham  Keyser,  Esq.,  1838-1840 
John  Nitchie,  Esq.,  1836-1838 
Hubert  Van  Wagenen,  Esq.,  1832-1836 
Hon.  Richard  Varick,  1816-1820 

554 


APPENDIX  VI  555 


William  Whitlock,  Jr.,  Esq.,  1840-1875 
William  W.  Woolsey,  Esq.,  1820-1827 

RECORDING    SECRETARY    AND   ACCOUNTANT 

J.  Pintard,  LL.D.,  1816-1832 
Robert  F.  Winslovv,  Esq.,  1 832-1 836 

RECORDING    SECRETARY 

Rev.  Henry  Otis  Dwight,  LL.D.,  1907- 

AGENT 

John  E.  Caldwell,  Esq.,  1818-1819 

AGENT   AND   ACCOUNTANT 

John  Nitchie,  Esq.,  1819-1832 

GENERAL    AGENT 

Caleb  T.  Rowe,  Esq.,  1854-1898 

GENERAL   AGENT   AND   ASSISTANT   TREASURER 


Joseph  Hyde,  Esq.,  1836-1854 
John  Nitchie,  Esq.,  1832-1836 

ASSISTANT    TREASURER 

Henry  Fisher,  Esq.,  1853-1869 
Andrew  L.  Taylor,  Esq.,  1869-1886 

ASSISTANT  CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY 

Rev.  L.  B.  Chamberlain,  M.A.,  1915- 

ACTING  RECORDING  SECRETARY 

Rev.  Henry  J.  Scudder,  B.D.,  1914- 

EDITOR    AND   LIBRARIAN 

Rev.  George  Bush,  1835-1839 


APPENDIX  VII 

MINISTERS  WHO  HAVE  SERVED  OR  ARE  SERVING  ON  COMMITTEES  OF 

THE  BOARD 

Rev.  William  Adams,  D.D.,  1846-1881 
Rev.  J.  W.  Alexander,  D.D.,   1846-1849;   1854-1858 
Rev.  Rees  F.  Alsop,  D.D.,  1914- 
Rt.  Rev.  E.  G.  Andrews,  D.D.,  1888-1907 
Rev.  W.  W.  Atterbury,  D.D.,  1899-19 12 
Rev.  L.  W.  Bancroft,  D.D.,  1883-1890 
Rev.  G.  T.  Bedell,  1846-1860 
Rev.  D.  Bigler,  1850-1856 
Rev.  Nehemiah  Boynton,  D.D.,  1905-1906 
Rev.  Cornelius  Brett,  D.D.,   1892-1906 
Rev.  W.  I.  Budington,  D.D.,  1861-1874 
Rev.  Henry  A.  Buttz,  D.D.,  1897- 
Rev.  S.  Parkes  Cadman,  D.D.,  1907- 
Rev.  Wm.  H.  Campbell,  D.D.,  1858-1873 
Rev.  T.  W.  Chambers,  D.D.,  1873-1896 
Rev.  G.  B.  Cheever.  D.D.,  1846-1861 
Rev.  A.  Huntington  Clapp,  D.D.,  1871-1886 
Rev.  Rufus  W.  Clark,  D.D.,  1859-1861 
Rev.  Henry  Evertson  Cobb,  D.D.,  1914- 
Rev.  Edward  B.  Coe,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1900-1914 
Rev.  D.  B.  Coe,  D.D.,  1874-1888 
Rev.  George  R.  Crooks,  D.D.,  1881-1897 
Rev.  George  R.  Crooks,  D.D.,  1S60-1S62 
Rev.  Howard  Crosby,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1880-1891 
Rev.  John  R.  Davies,  1896-1899 
Rev.  John  DeWitt,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1897-1913 
Rev.  Thomas  De  Witt,  D.D.,  1846-1873 
Rev.  Richard  B.  Duane,  1871-1875 
Rev.  Howard  Duffield,  1892-1906 
Rev.  Isaac  Ferris,  D.D.,  1846-1873 
Rev.  James  Floy,  D.D.,  1853-1857 
Rev.  Archibald  C.  Foss,  1 865-1 869 
Rev.  Cyrus  D.  Foss,  1869- 1876 
Rev.  R.  S.  Foster,  1851-1852 
Rev.  Wm.  H.  Foulkes,  D.D.,  1912-1913 

556 


APPENDIX  VII  557 

Rev.  C.  A.  Goodrich,  1858-1860 

Rt.  Rev.  D.  A.  Goodsell,  D.D.,  1908-1909 

Rev.  Wm.  Green,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1892-1897 

Rev.  W.  L.  Harris.  D.D.,  1877-1887 

Rev.  Thomas  S.  Hastings,  1864-1868;  1871-1874 

Rev.  Albert  S.  Hunt,  D.D.,  1866-1878 

Rev.  J.  F.  Hurst,  D.D.,  1876-1881 

Rev.  Mancius  S.  Hutton,  D.D.,  1848-1880 

Rev.  E.  P.  Ingersoll,  D.D.,  1890-1892;  189&-1902 

Rev.  R.  E.  Inglis,  D.D.,  1915- 

Rt.  Rev.  E.  S.  Janes,  D.D.,  1846-1876 

Rev.  E.  H.  Jewett.  D.D..  1890-1899 

Rev.  Lot  Jones,  1858-1866 

Rev.  Wm.  V.  Kelley,  D.D.,  1898- 

Rev.   James  M.  King,  1878-1899 

Rev.  C.  P.  Krauth.  D.D.,  1875-1883 

Rev.  John  M.  Krebs,  D.D.,  1854-1868 

Rev.  G.  T.  Krotel,  D.D.,  1868-1907 

Rev.  Joseph  H.  Kummer,  1865-1866 

Rev.  W.  J.  Lindsay,  1862-1865 

Rev.  James  MacDonald,  1850-1854 

Rev.  J.  McGoffin  MAuley,  1847-1848 

Rev.  Thomas  McAuley,  D.D.,  1846-1847 

Rev.  E.  McChesney,  D.D.,  1888-1898 

Rev.  J.  McClintock,  D.D.,  1848-1853;  1858-1860 

Rev.  J.  W.  McLane,  1848-1864 

Rev.  John  McLeod,  D.D.,  1857-1873 

Rev.  T.  B.  McLeod,  D.D.,  1900-1905 

Rev.  Stephen  Martindale,  1846-1849 

Rev.  Henry  E.  Montgomery,  D.D.,  1866-1869 

Rev.  J.  O.  Murray,   1867-1871 

Rev.  William  H.  Norris,  1857-1866 

Rev.  F.  M.  North,  D.D.,  1902- 

Rev.  Howard  Osgood.  D.D.,  1878-1882 

Rev.  Ray  Palmer,  D.D.,  1867-1871 

Rev.  George  Peck,  D.D.,  1846-1849 

Rev.  Henry  C.  Potter,  D.D.,  1882-1883 

Rev.  George  Potts,  D.D..  1853-1855:  185&-1865 

Rev.  Howell  Powell,  D.D.,  1871-1875 

Rev.  J.  E.  Rankin,  1886-1890 

Rev.  C.  H.  Read,  i84(S-i848 

Rev.  John  M.  Reid,  1855-1857 

Rev.  A.  A.  Reinke,  1886-1890 

Rev.  J.  B.  Remensnvder,  D.D..  LL.D.,  1907- 

Rev.  N.  L.  Rice,  D.D.,  1865-1867 


558  APPENDIX  VII 

Rev.  Tames  F.  Riggs,  D.D.,  1897- 

Rev.  William  Roberts,  D.D.,  1 865-1 869 

Rev.  Edward  Robinson,  D.D.,  1846-1858 

Rev.  E.  P.  Rogers,  D.D.,  1 880-1 882 

Rev.  Philip  Schaff,  D.D.,  1866-1874 

Rev.  Henry  J.  Schmidt,  D.D.,  1858-1874 

Rev.  M.  L.  Scudder,  1852-1855 

Rev.  J.  Preston  Searle,  D.D.,  1914- 

Rev.  E.  T.  Senseman,  1856-1861 

Rev.  Wm.  G.  R.  Shedd,  D.D.,  1864-1872 

Rev.  George  Shelton,  1858-1863 

Rev.  Daniel  Smith,  1849-185 1 

Rev.  Henry  B.  Smith,  D.D.,  1858-1874 

Rev.  John  Cotton  Smith,  D.D.,  1860-1882 

Rev.  T.  Ralston  Smith,  D.D.,  1871-1879 

Rev.  W.  Snodgrass,  D.D.,  1849-1850 

Rev.  Gardiner  Spring,  D.D.,  1846-1864 

Rev.  Joseph  C.  Stiles,  1851-1853 

Rev.  Ross  Stevenson,  191 5- 

Rev.  H.  A.  Stimson,  D.D.,  1907- 

Rev.  Charles  F.  E.  Stohlmann,  D.D.,  1861-1869 

Rev.  R.  S.  Storrs,  Jr.,  D.D.,  1848-1858 

Rev.  Wm.  J.  R.  Taylor,  D.D..  1874-1892 

Rev.  Wm.  M.  Taylor,  D.D.,  1884-1895 

Rev.  J.  P.  Thompson,  D.D.,   1847-1850;   1864-1865 

Rev.  Charles  C.  Tiffany,  D.D.,  1899-1905 

Rev.  Wm.  R.  Tompkins,  1861-1867 

Rev.  Samuel  H.  Turner,  D.D.,  1846-1858 

Rev.  B.  B.  Tyler,  D.D.,  1890-1897 

Rev.  Stephen  H.  Tyng,  D.D.,  1846-1858 

Rev.  H.  J.  Van  Dyke,  Jr.,  D.D.,  1887-1892 

Rev.  T.  E.  Vermilye,  D.D,  1846-1858 

Rev.  Alexander  H.  Vinton,  D.D.,  1864-1870 

Rev.  S.  H.  Virgin,  D.D.,  1888-1901 

Rev.  William  Hayes  Ward,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1895- 

Rev.  J.  B.  Weston,  D.D.,  1897-1908 

Rev.  Erskine  N.  White,  D.D.,   1876-1887 

Rev.  Wm.  R.  Williams.  D.D.,  1846-1847;  1858-1874 

Rt.  Rev.  Luther  B.  Wilson,  D.D.,  1912- 

Rev.  Theodore  Woolsey,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1861-1884. 


APPENDIX  VIII 

REGULATIONS  RESPECTING  APPROPRIATIONS  FOR  EXPENSE  INCURRED 
IN    TRANSLATING    THE   SCRIPTURES 

1.  Upon  the  application  of  Missionary  Societies,  annual  ap- 
propriations will  be  made  to  them  toward  defraying  the  current 
expenses  of  translation. 

2.  If  the  time  and  services  of  a  missionary,  approved  by  this 
Board,  are  wholly  given  to  the  work  of  translating  the  Bible, 
the  Board  will  provide  for  his  support  during  the  time  neces- 
sary for  accomplishing  the  work;  but  if  only  part  of  his  time 
is  given  to  it,  a  proportionate  allowance  will  be  made. 

3.  Such  charges  for  the  services  of  native  scribes  and  helpers 
as  may  be  approved  by  a  committee  of  missionaries  in  the  same 
field,  may  fairly  be  added  to  those  for  the  support  of  the  prin- 
cipal translator. 

4.  The  Board  will  expect  annual  reports  of  the  work  accom- 
plished and  the  time  devoted  to  it;  and  the  version,  while  in 
progress  and  when  completed,  will  be  regarded  as  the  property 
of  the  American  Bible  Society. 

5.  In  appropriating  money  for  the  translation,  printing,  and 
distribution  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  in  foreign  languages,  the 
Managers  feel  at  liberty  to  encourage  only  such  versions  as 
conform,  in  the  principles  of  their  translation,  to  the  common 
English  version,  at  least  so  far  that  all  the  religious  denomina- 
tions represented  in  this  Society  can  consistently  use  and  cir- 
culate said  versions  in  their  several  schools  and  communities. 

6.  No  translation  shall  be  printed  and  published  with  the 
funds  of  the  American  Bible  Society  until  a  committee  of  mis- 
sionaries or  others,  skilled  in  the  language,  shall  have  given  it 
their  approbation,  except  in  cases  where  no  such  committee  of 
revision  can  be  procured. 


559 


APPENDIX  IX 

REGULATIONS    RESPECTING    THE    PUBLICATION     AND    DISTRIBUTION 
OF    THE    SCRIPTURES    IN    FOREIGN    LANDS 

1.  Upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee  on  Distribu- 
tion, grants  of  books  and  appropriations  of  money  will  be  made 
by  the  American  Bible  Society  to  Missionary  Societies  and 
others,  to  promote  the  circulation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  for- 
eign lands. 

2.  The  principal  objects  to  be  had  in  view,  in  making  ap- 
propriations of  funds,  are  the  following: 

(a)  To  meet  the  expense  of  printing  and  binding  the  Scrip- 
tures in  versions  which  have  received  the  previous  approval  of 
the  Board  of  Managers,  it  being  deemed  essential  for  such  ap- 
proval that  the  version  be  faithfully  translated  from  the  orig- 
inal, and  that  it  be  free  from  objection  on  denominational 
grounds.  The  publication  must  be  in  the  form  of  complete  por- 
tions of  Scripture  without  note  or  comment. 

(b)  To  purchase  copies  of  the  Scriptures  which,  though  not 
published  by  the  Society,  have  received  its  sanction. 

(c)  To  pay  the  necessary  expense  of  transportation  of  books 
to  the  places  of  distribution. 

(d)  To  pay  the  expense  of  distributing  the  Scriptures  by  the 
agency  of  native  believers,  when  their  employment  has  been 
authorized  by  the  Society. 

3.  As  a  rule,  even  among  the  heathen,  the  Scriptures  should 
be  sold  at  some  price,  although  that  may  be  much  less  than  the 
cost. 

The  proceeds  of  sales  of  books  granted  by  this  Society,  or 
printed  with  its  funds  and  afterward  sold,  should  be  put  again 
at  its  disposal.  Unexpended  funds,  and  books  left  on  hand 
which  are  not  needed,  should  be  held  subject  to  its  orders. 
From  each  Mission  annual  statements  will  be  expected,  exhibit- 
ing in  detail  the  amounts  of  money  received  and  expended,  and 
showing  also  the  extent  of  distribution  and  the  stock  of  books 
remaining  on  hand.  Narratives  of  incidents  connected  with 
the  work  are  also  desired  for  publication  in  the  *'  Bible  Society 
Record." 

4.  Applications  for  funds  should  reach  the  Society  early  in 

560 


APPENDIX  IX  561 

the  month  of  February  of  each  year,  that  the  annual  appropria- 
tions may  be  made  by  the  Board  on  the  first  Thursday  of 
March. 

The  American  Bible  Society  expects  that  due  credit  will  be 
given  for  its  donations,  by  those  to  whom  its  grants  are  con- 
fided for  distribution. 


APPENDIX  X 

LIST  OF  164  LANGUAGES  IN  WHICH  THE  TRANSLATION,  PRINTING, 
OR  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES  HAVE  BEEN  PROMOTED  BY 
THE  SOCIETY 


Ainu 

Chinese, 

Classical,       Union 

Albanian 

Version 

Amharic,  Abyssina 

<( 

Easy    Wenli,    Union 

Arabic 

Version 

Arapahoe,  American  Indian 

ii 

Easy     Wenli,     Blod- 

Armenian  (Ancient) 

gett     and     Burdon 

Armenian   (Modern) 

Version 

Armenian   (Ararat) 

(I 

Easy  Wenli,  Schere- 

Armeno-Turkish 

schewski  Version 

Arrawack,  Guiana 

(( 

Canton   Colloquial 

Azerbaijan  Turkish 

(I 

Canton    Colloquial 

Benga,  West  Africa 

(Roman) 

Bengali 

<( 

Fuchow   Colloquial 

Bengali  (Roman) 

i( 

Hinghua      Colloquial 

Bicol,  Philippines 

(Roman) 

Bohemian 

<( 

Ningpo  Colloquial 

Bohemian-Slovak 

t( 

Peking    Colloquial 

Bulgarian 

(Roman) 

Bulu,  West  Africa 

ii 

Shanghai    Colloquial 

Burmese 

(( 

Shanghai     Colloquial 

Chinese,  Mandarin,  Peking 

(Roman) 

"          Swatow^   Colloquial 

« 

Shantung    Colloquial 

"          Swatow       Colloquial 

(Roman) 

(Roman) 

(( 

Suchow   Colloquial 

"         Mandarin,        Bp. 

" 

Sam     Kiong     Collo- 

Schereschew^ski 

quial 

"         Mandarin,      Union 

Cambodian 

Version 

Cebuan 

(Visayan),      Philip- 

"         Mandarin    (Roman) 

pines 

Classical    (Wenli) 

Chamorro,  Guam 

"         Classical,    Bridgman, 

Cherokee,  American  Indian 

Culbertson        and 

Chimanyika,  Africa 

Boone 

Choctaw 

,  American  Indian 

562 


APPENDIX  X 


563 


Creolese,  Curacao 

Croatian 

Dakota,  American  Indian 

Danish 

Delaware,  American  Indian 

Dikele,  West  Africa 

Dutch 

English 

"        American    revised 
version 
Esperanto 

Esthonian,  Reval,  Russia 
Fijian 
Finnish 

Flemish,  Belgium 
French 
Gaelic 

Galla,  Borders  of  Abyssinia 
German 

Gilbert  Islands,  Micronesia 
Grebo,  Liberia 
Greco-Turkish 
Greek,  Ancient 
Greek,  Modern 
Gujerati,  India 
Hawaiian 
Hebrew 
Hebrew-Arabic 
Hebrew-Spanish 
Hindi 
Hungarian 
Ibanag,  Philippines 
Icelandic 

Ifugao,  Philippines 
Ilocano,  Philippines 
Irish 
Italian 
Japanese 

"        Kunten    (Chinese 
Letters) 
(Roman) 
Javanese 
Karen  (Sgau) 
Kurdish   (Armenian  letters) 


Kurdish    (Arabic  letters) 
Korean  (Eunmun) 

(Mixed   Script) 
Kusaien,  Micronesia 
Lanao  Moro,  Philippines 
Laos,  Siam 
Latin 
Lettish 
Lithuanian 
Luragoli,       Kavirondo-W  e  s  t 

Africa 
Malay 

Marathi,  India 
Marshall  Islands,  Micronesia 
Mohawk,  American  Indian 
Mongolian,  Lake  Baikal 
Mortlock  Islands,  Micronesia 
Mpongwe,  West  Africa 
Muskokee,  American  Indian 
Nauru,  Micronesia 
Navaho,  American  Indian 
Nez  Perces,  American  Indian 
Norwegian 

Ojibwa,  American  Indian 
Pahari,  India 
Pampangan,  Philippines 
Pangasinan,  Philippines 
Panayan  (Visayan) 
Panjabi,  India 
Persian 
Polish 

Ponape,  Micronesia 
Portuguese 
Portuguese  Revised 
Quechua 
Roumanian 
Ruk,  Micronesia 
Russian 
Ruthenian 

Samareno   (Visayan) 
Sanskirt,  India 
Santali-Bengali.  India 
Scottish  "Broad" 
Sechuana,  Africa 


564 


APPENDIX  X 


Seneca,  American  Indian 

Servian 

Sesuto,  South  Africa 

Shan,  Burma 

Sheetswa,  East  Africa 

Shulla  or  Shilluk,  Africa 

Siamese 

Singhalese  (Ceylon) 

Slavic 

Slovak 

Slovenian 

Spanish,  Moderna 

Scio 

Valera 
Swedish 

Syriac  (Ancient) 
"       (Modern) 


Tagalog,  Philippines 

Talain  or  Pequin,  India 

Tamil,  India 

Telugu,  India 

Tonga,  East  Africa 

Turkish 

Urdu  or  Hindustani 

Uriya,  Orissa,  India 

Visayan   or   Bisayan,   see   Ce- 

buan,   Panayan,   and   Sama- 

reno 
Welsh 

Wolof,  West  Africa 
Yiddish 
Zambal 
Zapotec 
Zulu 


EMBOSSED    SCRIPTURES    FOR    THE    BLIND,     I4    LANGUAGES    AND 
SYSTEMS 


Arabic,  Braille  System 
Arabic,  Moon  System 
Armenian,  Braille  System 
Armeno-Turkish,   Braille  Sys- 
tem 
Chinese,  Mandarin,  Braille 
English,  Boston  Line  Letter 
English,  New  York  Point 


English,      American      Braille 

System 
English,  Moon  System 
Japanese,  Braille  System 
Korean,  New  York  Point 
Portuguese,  Braille  System 
Siamese,  Braille  System 
Spanish,  Braille  System 


APPENDIX  XI 

NAMES    OF    MISSIONARY    TRANSLATORS    OR    REVISERS    AIDED   OR 
SUPPORTED   BY   THE   SOCIETY 


American  Indians. 


Ainslee,  Rev.  George, 

Nez  Perces 

Allan,    Rev.    George, 

Quechua,  Peru 

Brink,  Rev.  L.  P., 

Navaho 

Buckner,  Dr.  H.  F., 

Muskokee 

Hall,  Rev.  Sherman, 

Ojibw^a 

James,  Dr.  Edwin, 

OjibM^a 

McDonald,          Archdeacon 

Ojibwa 

Robert, 

Ramsay,  Rev.  J.  R., 

Muskokee 

Riggs,  Rev.  S.  R., 

Dakota 

Roberts,  Rev.  J., 

Arapahoe 

Robertson,  Mrs.  A.  E.  W., 

Muskokee 

Spalding,   Rev.  H.  H., 
Stucki,  Rev.  J., 

Nez  Perces 

Winnebago 

Torrey,  Rev.  C.  C., 

Cherokee 

Turner,  Mrs.  C.  M., 

Quechua,  Peru 

Williamson,  Rev.  T.  S., 

Dakota 

Worcester,  Rev.  S.  A., 

Cherokee 

Wright,  Rev.  A., 

Choctaw,  Seneca 

Africa : 

Bushnell,  Rev.  Albert, 

Mpongwe,  Dikele 

Dorward,  Rev.  Mr., 

Zulu 

Frazer,  Rev.  M.  E., 

Bulu 

Good,  Rev.  A.  C., 

Bulu 

Kilbon,  Rev.  C.  W., 

Zulu 

McCleary,  Rev.  C.  W., 

Bulu 

Nauer,  Rev.  F.  G., 

Benga 

Ousley,  Rev.   Benjamin, 

Sheetswa 

Payne,   Rt.   Rev.  John, 

Grebo 

Preston,  Rev.  I.  M., 

Dikele 

Rees,  Rev.  E.  T., 

Luragoli 

Richards.  Rev.  E.  H., 

Sheetswa,  Tonga 

Rood,  Rev.  I., 

Zulu 

Taylor.  Rev.  J.  D., 

Zulu 

Wilcox,  Rev.  W.  C., 

Zulu 

Wilder,  Rev.  G.  E., 

Zulu 

Wilson,  Rev.  D.  A., 

Mpongwe 

565 


566 


APPENDIX  XI 


China : 

Aiken,  Rev.  E.  E., 
Allan,  Rev.  C.  N., 
Baldwin,  Rev.  C.  C, 
Baldwin,  Rev.  S.  L., 
Bailer,  Rev.  F.  W., 
Blodgett,  Rev.  H., 
Box,    Rev.    E., 
Bramfitt,  Rev.  Thomas, 
Brewster,   Dr., 
Bridgman,  Dr.  E.  C, 
Burdon,  Rt.  Rev.  J.  S., 
Chalmers,  Rev.  John, 
Chestnut,      Miss      Eleanor, 

M.D., 
Clayton,  Rev.  G.  A., 
Culbertson,  Rev.  M.   S., 
Davis,  Rev.  D.  H., 
Davis,  Rev.  John  W., 
Edkins,  Rev.  Dr.  Jos., 
Farnham,  Rev.  Dr., 
Fitch,  Rev.  G.  F., 
Genahr,  Rev.  I., 
Gibson,  Rev.  J.  G., 
Graves,  Rev.  R.  H., 

Goodrich,  Rev.  C, 
Happer,  Rev.  Dr., 
Henry,  Rev.  Dr., 
Hykes,  Rev.  J.  R., 
Judd,  Rev.  C.  H., 
Lewis,  Rev.  Spencer, 
Lloyd,   Rev.   Mr., 
Lowrie,  Mrs.  R., 
Maclagan,  Rev.  P.  J., 
Mateer,  Rev.  C.  W., 
Martin,  Rev.  W.  A.  P., 
Nagel,   Rev.  A., 
Nevius,  Rev.  J.  L., 
Noyes,  Rev.  Dr., 
Owen,  Rev.  George, 
Parker,  Rev.  A.  P., 
Pearce,  Rev.  T.  W., 
Schaub,  Rev.  M., 


Mandarin,   Union 
Mandarin,         " 
Fuchow  Colloquial 

Mandarin,  Union 
Mandarin,  Easy  Wenli 
Shanghai  Colloquial 
Mandarin,  Union 
Hinghua  Colloquial 
Wenli   (Classical) 
Mandarin,  Easy  Wenli 
Wenli  (Classical,  Union) 

Sam  Kiong  Colloquial 
Mandarin    (in  Braille) 
Wenli  (Classical) 
Shanghai  Colloquial 
Easy  Wenli,  Union 
Wenli    (Classical),   Union 
Shanghai   Colloquial,   Union 
Suchow  dialect 
Easy  Wenli,  Union 
Swatow,  Easy  Wenli,  Union 
Canton  dialect.  Easy  Wenli, 

Union 
Mandarin,  Union 
Canton  Colloquial 

Mandarin 

Shantung,  Colloquial 
Mandarin,  Union 
Wenli  (Classical),  Union 
Peking  Colloquial 
Wenli  (Classical) 
Mandarin,  Union 
Mandarin 

Wenli    (Classical),  Union 
Mandarin,  Union 
Canton,   Colloquial 
Mandarin,  Union 
Easy  Wenli 

Wenli    (Classical),   Union 
"       (Classical) 


APPENDIX  XI 


567 


Schereschewski,    Rt.    Rev. 

S.  I.  J., 
Sheffield,  Rev.  D.  Z., 
Silsby,  Rev.  J.  A., 
Thomson,  Archdeacon, 
Wherry,  Rev.  J., 
Ware,  Rev.  James, 
Woodin,  Rev.  Dr., 

Hawaii : 

Andrews,  Rev.  L., 
Bingham,  Rev.  Hiram, 
Bishop,  Rev.  A., 
Clark,  Rev.  E.  W., 
Dibble,  Rev.   S., 
Green,  Rev.  J.  S., 
Richards.  Rev.  W., 
Thurston,  Rev.  A, 


Mandarin,  Easy  Wenli 
Wenli    (Classical),   Union 
Shanghai  Colloquial 
Shanghai   Colloquial 
Wenli    (Classical),   Union 
Shanghai   Colloquial 
Foochow  Colloquial 


Hawaiian 


India  : 

Ballantine,  Rev.  H., 

Marathi 

Bate,  Rev.  J., 

Hindi 

Bateman,  Rev.  R., 

Urdu 

Chamberlain,  Rev.  Jacob, 

Telugu 

Hall,  Rev.  Gordon, 

Marathi 

Hay,  Rev.  J., 

Telugu 

Janvier,  Rev.  L., 

Panjabi 

Newell,  Rev.  Samuel, 

Marathi 

Newton,  Rev.  E.  P., 

Panjabi 

Newton,  Rev.  John, 

Panjabi 

Sutton,  Rev.  A., 

Uriya   (Orissa) 

Tracy,  Rev.  W., 

Tamil 

Winslow,  Rev.  M., 

Tamil 

Japan : 

Amerman,  Rev.  J.  L., 

Japanese  Colloquial 

Batchelor,  Rev.  J., 

Ainu 

Brown,  Rev.  S.  R., 

Japanese 

Davison.  R.  C.  S. 
Fyson,  Rt.  Rev.  P.  K., 
Foss,  Rt.  Rev.  H.  F., 
Greene.  Rev.  D.  C, 
Gutzlaff.  Rev.  Charles, 
Harrington,  Rev.  C.  K., 
Hepburn,  Dr.  J.  C, 


568 


APPENDIX  XI 


Learned,  Rev.  D.  W., 
Piper,  Rev.  John, 
Maclay,  Rev.  R.  S., 
Verbeck,  Rev.  G.  F., 
Williams,  Rt.  Rev.  D.  C, 

Korea : 

Appenzeller,  Rev.  H.  G., 
Gale,  Rev.  J.  S., 
Jones,  Rev.  G.  H., 
Moffet,  Rev.  S.  A., 
Reynolds,  Rev.  W.  B., 
Scranton,  Dr.  W.  B., 
Trollope,  Rev.  M.  N., 
Underwood,  Rev.  H.  G., 

Micronesia: 

Bingham,  Rev.  Hiram,  Jr., 
Delaporte,  Rev.  P.  A., 
Doane,  Rev.  E.  T., 

Gulick,  Rev.  L.  H., 
Logan,  Rev.  R.  W., 
Pease,  Rev.  E.  M., 
Pierson,  Rev.  G., 
Price,  Rev.  F.  M., 
Rife,  Rev.  C.  W.,  M.D., 
Snow,  Rev.  B.  G., 

Sturges,  Rev.  A.  A., 
Whitney,  Rev.  J.  R, 

Philippines : 

Conant,  Mr.  E.  C, 
Goodrich,  Rev.  J.  C, 
Hanna.  Rev.  W.  H., 
Lund,  Rev.  Eric, 
Mumma,  Rev.  M.  W., 
Peterson,  Rev.  B.  O., 
Williams,  Rev.  P.  H., 

Siam : 

Bradley,  Rev.  D.  B., 
Carrington,  Rev.   John, 
Dunlap,  Rev.  E.  P., 
Irwin,  Rev.  Robert, 
McClure,  Rev.  W.  G., 


Japanese 

Chino-Japanese 
Korean 


Gilbert  Islands 

Nauru 

Ebon    (Marshall   Islands) 

Ponape 

Ponape 

Mortlock,  Ruk 

Ebon  (Marshall  Islands) 

Ebon   (Marshall  Islands) 

Ruk,  Chamorro 

Marshall  Islands 

Ebon   (Marshall  Islands) 

Kusaien 
Ponape 
Ebon  (Marshall  Islands) 

Pampangan 

Ilocano 

Ilocano 

Visayan  of  Panay 

Ilocano 

Ilocano 

Ilocano 

Siamese 

Siamese 

Siamese 

Laos 

Siamese 


APPENDIX  XI 


569 


McGilvary,   Mrs.   Daniel, 

Laos 

McGilvarv,  Rev.  E.  B., 

Laos 

McKean,  Dr.  J.  W., 

Laos 

Mattoon,  Rev.  S., 

Siamese 

Vail  Dyke,  Rev.  J.  W., 

Siamese 

Wilson,  Rev.  J., 

Laos 

Turkey: 

Adger,   Rev.  J.   B., 

Armenian 

Andrus,  Rev.  A.  N., 

Kurdish 

Christie,  Rev.  Dr.  J., 

Hebrew-Spanish 

Dwight,  Rev.  H.  0., 

Turkish 

Goodell,  Rev.  W., 

Armeno-Turkish 

Herrick,  Rev.  G.  F., 

Turkish 

Hoskins,  Rev.  F.  E., 

Arabic 

Labarree,  Rev.  Benjamin, 

Azerbaijan  Turkish 

Long,  Rev.  A.  L., 

Bulgarian 

Perkins,  Rev.  Justin, 

Syriac,  Modern 

Pratt,  Rev.  A.  T., 

Turkish 

Riggs,  Rev.  Elias, 

Armenian,  Bulgarian,  Turk 

ish 
Hebrew-Spanish,   Turkish 

Schauffler,  Rev.  W.  G., 

Smith,  Rev.  Eli, 

Arabic 

Spence,  Rev.  D.  B., 

Hebrew-Spanish 

Van  Dyck.  Rev.  C.  V.  A., 

Arabic 

Weakley,  Rev.  R.  H., 

Turkish 

■Wright,  Rev.  J.  N., 

Azerbaijan  Turkish 

Miscellaneous: 

Baez,  Rev.  D.  B., 

Spanish 

Brown,  Rev.  W.  C., 

Portuguese 

Diez,  Rev.  Francisco, 

Spanish 

Drees,  Rev.  Charles  W., 

i( 

Rowland,  Rev.  John, 

(C 

Kyle,  Rev.  J.  M., 

Portuguese 

Pratt,  Rev.  H.  B., 

Spanish 

Smith,  Rev.  J.  R., 

" 

Stallybrass,  Rev.  E., 

Mongolian 

Thompson,  Rev.  Henry  C, 

Spanish 

APPENDIX  XII 

CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY,^     I916 
ARTICLE   I 

This  Society  shall  be  known  by  the  name  of  the  AMERICAN 
BIBLE  SOCIETY,  of  which  the  sole  object  shall  be  to  encour- 
age a  wider  circulation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  without  note  or 
comment.  The  only  copies  in  the  English  language,  to  be  cir- 
culated by  the  Society,  shall  be  of  the  version  set  forth  in  161 1, 
and  commonly  known  as  the  King  James  Version,  whether  in 
its  original  form  as  published  in  the  aforesaid  year  or  as  re- 
vised the  New  Testament  in  1881  and  the  Old  Testament  in 
1885,' and  published  in  these  years  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Committee  of  Revision,  or  as  further  revised  and  edited  by  the 
American  Committee  of  Revision  and  printed  under  its  super- 
vision in  1901. 

ARTICLE    II 

This  society  shall  add  its  endeavours  to  those  employed  by 
other  Societies,  for  circulating  the  Scriptures  throughout  the 
United  States  and  their  Territories;  and  shall  furnish  them 
with  plates,  or  such  other  assistance  as  circumstances  may  re- 
quire This  Society  shall  also,  according  to  its  ability  extend 
its  influence  to  other  countries,  whether  Christian,  Mohamme- 
dan, or  pagan. 

ARTICLE  III 

All  Bible  Societies  shall  be  allowed  to  purchase,  at  cost,  from 
this  Society,  Bibles  for  distribution  within  their  own  districts ; 
and  the  officers  of  all  such  Bible  Societies  as  shall  hereafter 
agree  to  place  their  surplus  revenue,  after  supplying  their  own 
dtstricts  with  the  Bible,  at  the  disposal  of  this  Society,  shall  be 
entitled  to  vote  in  all  meetings  of  the  Society. 

ARTICLE  IV 

Each  subscriber  of  three  dollars  annually  shall  be  a  Member. 
1  The  modified  constitution  is  inserted  here  for  comparison  with 
the  original  form  of  1816. 

570 


APPENDIX  XII  571 


ARTICLE  V 

Each  subscriber  of  thirty  dollars  at  one  time  shall  be  a  Mem- 
ber for  Life. 

ARTICLE   VI 

Each  subscriber  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  at  one  time, 
or  who  shall  by  one  additional  payment,  increase  his  original 
subscription  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  shall  be  a  Director 
for  Life;  but  he  shall  not  be  such  Director  when  he  is  in  receipt 
of  any  salary,  emolument,  or  compensation  for  services,  from 
the  Society. 

ARTICLE   VII 

Directors  shall  be  entitled  to  attend  and  speak,  and  if  con- 
stituted Directors  before  June  i,  1877,  shall  be  entitled  to  vote 
at  all  meetings  of  the  Board  of  Managers. 

ARTICLE  VIII 

A  Board  of  Managers  shall  be  appointed  to  conduct  the  busi- 
ness of  the  Society,  consisting  of  thirty-six  laymen,  of  whom 
tv/enty-four  shall  reside  in  the  city  of  New  York  or  its  vicinity. 
One-fourth  part  of  the  whole  number  shall  go  out  of  office  at 
the  expiration  of  each  year,  but  shall  be  re-eligible. 

Every  Minister  of  the  Gospel,  who  is  a  Member  for  Life  of 
the  Society,  if  he  be  not  entitled  to  receive  any  salary,  emolu- 
ment or  compensation  for  services  from  the  Society,  shall  be 
entitled  to  meet  and  vote  with  the  Board  of  Managers,  and  be 
possessed  of  the  same  powers  as  a  Manager  himself. 

The  Managers  shall  appoint  all  officers,  and  call  special  gen- 
eral meetings,  and  fill  such  vacancies  as  may  occur,  by  death 
or  otherwise,  in  their  own  Board. 

ARTICLE    IX 

Each  IMember  of  the  Society  shall  be  entitled,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Board  of  Managers,  to  purchase  Bibles  and  Testa- 
ments at  the  Society's  prices,  which  shall  be  as  low  as  possible. 

ARTICLE  X 

The  annual  meetings  of  the  Society  shall  be  held  at  New  York 
or  Philadelphia,  at  the  option  of  the  Society,  on  the  second 
Thursday  of  May.  in  each  year;  when  the  Managers  shall  be 
chosen,  the  accounts  presented,  and  the  proceedings  of  the  fore- 
going year  reported. 


572  APPENDIX  XII 

ARTICLE   XI 

The  President  and  Vice-Presidents,  for  the  time  being,  shall 
be  considered,  ex-oiUcio,  members  of  the  Board  of  Managers. 
The  Treasurer  and  Secretaries  shall,  in  addition  to  their  other 
duties,  attend  meetings  of  the  Board,  and  of  the  Committees 
thereof  to  render  such  aid  in  imparting  information,  recording 
and  reading  proceedings  and  minutes,  and  in  preparing  reports, 
as  may  be  required  of  them, 

ARTICLE  XII 

At  the  general  meetings  of  the  Society,  and  the  meetings  of 
the  Managers,  the  President,  or  in  his  absence,  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent first  on  the  list  then  present,  and  in  the  absence  of  all  the 
Vice-Presidents,  such  member  as  shall  be  appointed  for  that 
purpose,  shall  preside  at  the  meeting. 

ARTICLE   XIII 

The  Managers  shall  meet  on  the  first  Thursday  in  each  month, 
or  oftener,  if  necessary,  at  such  place  in  the  city  of  New  York 
as  they  shall  from  time  to  time  adjourn  to,  but  when  the  first 
Thursday  falls  on  a  legal  holiday  the  meeting  shall  be  on  the 
second  Thursday. 

ARTICLE   XIV 

The  Managers  shall  have  the  power  of  appointing  such  per- 
sons as  have  rendered  essential  services  to  the  Society,  either  ■ 
Members  for  Life,  or  Directors  for  Life. 

ARTICLE   XV 

The  whole  minutes  of  every  meeting  shall  be  signed  by  the 
Chairman. 

ARTICLE   XVI 

No  alteration  shall  be  made  in  this  Constitution,  except  by 
the  Society  at  an  annual  meeting,  on  the  recommendation  of  the 
Board  of  Managers. 

ARTICLE   XVII 

The  President,  or,  in  his  absence,  the  Vice-President  first  on 
the  list  in  the  city  of  New  York,  may,  and,  on  the  written  re- 
quest of  six  members  of  the  Board,  shall  call  a  special  meeting 
of  the  Board  of  Managers,  giving  three  days'  notice  of  such 
meeting  and  of  its  object. 


APPENDIX  XII  573 

ARTICLE  XVIII 

The  Board  of  Managers  may  admit  to  the  privileges  of  an 
Auxiliary,  any  Society  which  was  organised  and  had  com- 
menced the  printing,  publication,  and  issuing  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  before  the  establishment  of  this  Society,  with  such 
relaxation  of  the  terms  of  admission,  heretofore  prescribed,  as 
the  said  Board,  two-thirds  of  the  members  present  consenting, 
may  think  proper. 


APPENDIX  XIII 

THE    AGENCIES    OF   THE    SOCIETY 
HOME   AGENCIES 

Coloured  People  of  the  South,  Rev.  J.  P.  Wragg,  D.D.,  35  Gam- 
mon Ave.,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Northwestern  Agency,  Rev.  S.  H.  Kirkbride,  D.D.,  McCormick 

Building,  332  South  Michigan  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 
South  Atlantic  Agency,   Rev.  M.   B.   Porter,  205   North  Fifth 

Street,  Richmond,  Va. 
Western  Agency,  Rev.  Arthur  F.  Ragatz,  D.D.,  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Building,  Lincoln  and  i6th  Streets,  Denver,  Colo. 
Pacific  Agency,  Rev.  A.  Wesley  Mell,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Building,  200 

Golden  Gate  Ave.,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 
Southwestern    Agency,    Rev.    J.    J.    Morgan,    1304    Commerce 

Street,  Dallas,  Texas. 
Eastern  Agency,  Rev.  W.  H.  Hendrickson,  137  Montague  Street, 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Central  Agency,   Rev.    George   S.   J.   Browne,   D.D.,   424   Elm 

Street,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Atlantic  Agency,  Rev.  Leighton  W.  Eckard,  D.D.,  701  Walnut 

Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

FOREIGN  AGENCIES 

Levant  Agency,  Rev.  Marcellus  Bowen,  D.D.,  Bible  House,  Con- 
stantinople, Turkey. 

La  Plata  Agency,  Rev.  Francis  G.  Penzotti,  Box  304,  Lavalle 
1467,  Buenos  Ayres,  Argentina. 

Japan  Agency,  Herbert  W.   Schwartz,  M.D.,   53  Main   Street, 
Yokohama,  Japan. 

China  Agency,  Rev.  John  R.  Hykes,  D.D.,  14  Kiukiang  Road, 
Shanghai,  China. 

Brazil  Agency,  Rev.  H.  C.  Tucker,  Caixa  do  Correio,  454,  Rio 
de  Janeiro,  Brazil. 

Mexico  Agency,  Rev.  W.  F.  Jordan,  123  Uvalde  St.,  San  An- 
tonio, Texas,  U.  S.  A. 

West  Indies  Agency,  Rev.  W.  F.  Jordan,  123  Uvalde  St.,  San 
Antonio,  Texas,  U.  S.  A. 

574 


APPENDIX  XIII  575 

Korea  Agency,  Rev.  S.  A.  Beck,  Seoul,  Korea. 

Venezuela  Agency,  Rev.  Gerard  A.  Bailly,  Apartado  de  Correo 

419,  Caracas,  Venezuela. 
Siam  Agency,  Rev.  Robert  Irwin,  426  Pramuen  Road,  Bangkok, 

Siam. 
Central   America   and   Panama   Agency,    Rev.   James    Hayter, 

Apartado  119,  Guatemala  City,  Guatemala. 
Philippines  Agency,  Rev.  J.  L.  McLaughlin,  Box  755,  Manila, 

P.  I. 


APPENDIX  XIV 
RECEIPTS 

RECEIPTS   OF  THE  AMERICAN    BIBLE   SOCIETY  IN   EACH   YEAR   SINCE 
ITS  ORGANIZATION  ^ 


Year 

Date 

Receipts 

Year 

Date 

Receipts 

I  St 

1816-17 

$37,779.35 

51st 

1866-67 

$734,089.14 

2d 

1817-18 

36,564.30 

52d 

1867-68 

723,106.68 

3d 

1818-19 

53,223,94 

53d 

1868-69 

731,734.73 

4th 

1819-20 

41,361.97 

54th 

1869-70 

747,058.69 

5th 

1820-21 

47,009.20 

55th 

1870-71 

729,464.70 

6th 

1821-22 

40,682,34 

56th 

1871-72 

689,923.47 

7th 

1822-23 

52,021.75 

57th 

1872-73 

669,607.06 

8th 

1823-24 

42,416.95 

58th 

1873-74 

664,436.06 

9th 

1824-25 

44,833-08 

59th 

1874-75 

577,569.80 

loth 

1825-26 

53.639.85 

60th 

1875-76 

527,198.27 

nth 

1826-27 

60,194.13 

6ist 

1876-77 

543,579-55 

1 2th 

1827-28 

75,879.93 

62d 

1877-78 

446,954.04 

13th 

1828-29 

101,426.72 

63d 

1878-79 

462,274.66 

14th 

1829-30 

143,449.81 

64th 

1879-80 

608,342.28 

15th 

1830-31 

116,900.74 

65th 

1880-81 

606,484.96 

16th 

1831-32 

86,875.18 

66th 

1881-82 

502,223.32 

1 7th 

1832-33 

83,556.03 

^JJ-V 

1882-83 

598,641.91 

18th 

1833-34 

86,537.63 

68th 

1883-84 

640,719.06 

19th 

1834-35 

98,306.29 

69th 

'fMl 

587,914.34 

20th 

1835-36 

101,771.48 

70th 

1885-86 

523,910.59 

2 1  St 

1836-37 

83,259.79 

71st 

1886-87 

493,358.35 

22d 

1837-38 

91,904.57 

72d 

1887-88 

557,340.18 

23d 

1838-39 

79,545.24 

73d 

1888-89 

499,823.56 

24th 

1839-40 

94,880.24 

74th 

1889-90 

597,693.05 

25th 

1840-41 

116,485.05 

75th 

1890-91 

512,388.18 

26th 

1841-42 

132,637.08 

76th 

1891-92 

556,527.29 

27th 

1842-43 

124,728.77 

77th 

1892-93 

578,930.76 

28th 

1843-44 

153,678.05 

78th 

1893-94 

662,729.80 

29th 

1844-45 

159,738.68 

79th 

1894-95 

526,824.26 

30th 

1845-46 

196,182.48 

80th 

1895-96 

437,223.05 

31st 

1846-47 

203,494.63 

81st 

1896-97 

380,803.12 

32d 

1847-48 

251,804.68 

82d 

1897-98 

392,942.28 

33d 

1848-49 

236,428.94 

f^l 

1898-99 

464,985.13 

34th 

1849-50 

284,459.59 

l^^^ 

1899-1900 

350,173.82 

35th 

1850-51 

276,882,53 

85th 

1900-01 

378,972.10 

36th 

1851-52 

308,744.81 

86th 

1901-02 

450,558.76 

37th 

1852-53 

346,542.42 

§^^^ 

1902-03 

377,742.41 

38th 

1853-54 

394,340.50 

88th 

1903-04 

448,037.21 

39th 

1854-55 

346,767.09 

89th 

1904-05 

396,885.50 

40  th 

1855-56 

393,167.25 

90th 

1905-06 

438,677.02 

41st 

1856-57 

441,805.67 

91st 

1906-07 

548,343-88 

42d 

1857-58 

390,759.49 

92d 

1907-08 

534,020.24 

43d 

1858-59 

415,011.37 

93d 

1908-09 

502,345.56 

44th 

1859-60 

435,956.92 

94th 

1909-10 

533,470.80 

45th 

1860-61 

389,541.52 

95th 

1910-11 

747,766.64 

46th 

1861-62 

378,132.08 

96th 

1911-12 

929,906.58 

47th 

1862-63 

422,588.00 

97th 

1912-13 

728,246.32 

48th 

1863-64 

560,578.60 

98th 

1913-14 

696,609.26 

49th 

1864-65 

677,851.39 

99th 

1914 

840,291.52 

50th 

1865-66 

642,625.64 

Total 

$38,016,919.18 

^These  figures  do  not  include  Trust  Funds,  the  income  of  which 
can  only  be  used,  invested  Funds  received  for  Reinvestment,  or 
amount  borrowed  temporarily  from  banks. 

576 


APPENDIX  XV 
ISSUES 

BIBLES    AND    NEW    TESTAMENTS    ISSUED    IN    EACH    YEAR    SINCE    ITS 
ORGANIZATION 


Year 

Bibles 

Tests, 
etc. 

Total 

Year 

Bibles 

Tests, 
etc. 

Total 

1st 

6,410 

6,410 

51st 

324,215 

933.745 

1.257,960 

2d 

17,594 

.... 

17.594 

52d 

31S.525 

871,669 

1,187.194 

3d 

23,870 

*  7.248 

31,118 

5^1 

339,595 

1,047,016 

1.386,611 

Jth 

26,800 

14.713 

41,513 

54th 

329,774 

1,000,866 

1.330,640 

Sth 

26,772 

16,474 

43,246 

55t^ 

316,857 

790.870 

1,107,727 

6th 

28,910 

24,560 

53,470 

56th 

298,352 

802,519 

1,100,871 

7th 

28,448 

26,357 

54.805 

Hlu 

313,714 

887,531 

1,201,245 

Sth 

31,590 

28,849 

60,439 

58th 

317,365 

673,207 

990,572 

9th 

30,094 

33,757 

63,851 

59th 

281,703 

645,197 

926,900 

loth 

31,154 

35.980 

67.134 

60th 

269,303 

581,167 

850,470 

nth 

35.876 

35.745 

71,621 

61st 

239.546 

641,510 

881,056 

1 2th 

75,734 

58.873 

134,607 

62d 

297,452 

560,041 

857.493 

13th 

91,248 

108,874 

200,122 

9'^. 

343.902 

843.952 

1,187,854 

14th 

130.254 

108,329 

238,583 

64th 

394.545 

961,494 

1,356,039 

I  Sth 

171,972 

70,211 

242,183 

^1^1} 

422,208 

1.052,395 

1,474,603 

1 6th 

54,843 

60,959 

115,802 

66th 

371.728 

I. 153.045 

1,524.773 

17th 
i8th 

36,941 

54.227 

91,168 

67th 

438,063 

1,238,169 

1,676,232 

34,083 

76,749 

110,832 

68th 

499.379 

1^308,836 

1,808,215 

19th 

47,709 

75.527 

123,236 

69th 

429,716 

1,118,459 

1.548.175 

20th 

65,974 

155.720 

221,694 

70th 

369,714 

1,067,726 

1.437.440 

2ISt 

51,354 

154.886 

206,240 

71st 

391,865 

1.055.405 

1,447,270 

22d 

45,083 

113. 215 

158,298 

72d 

420,242 

1,084.405 

1,504,647 

23d 

45.333 

89,604 

134.937 

73i 

410,282 

1.030,173 

1.440,455 

24th 

54,227 

103,034 

157,261 

74th 

412,862 

1.083,195 

1.496,057 

25th 

64,304 

87,898 

152,202 

75*^ 

450,180 

^'oil'^^H 

1,497,637 

26th 

101,416 

155.650 

257,066 

76th 

411,618 

886,578 

1,298,196 

27th 

82,912 

133.693 

216,605 

77th 

410,093 

984,770 

1.394.863 

28th 

114,766 

199,816 

314.582 

78th 

400,176 

1,047,483 

1,447.659 
1,581,128 

29th 

145.970 

283.122 

429.092 

l^lu 

403.434 

1,177.694 

30th 

161,974 

321,899 

483.873 

80th 

391.437 

1,358,846 

1.750.283 

31st 

209,416 

418,348 

627,764 

81st 

317.472 

1,196,027 

1.513.499 

32d 

2^2,272 

422,794 

655,066 

82d 

252.530 

1.109,743 

1.362,273 

33d 

205,307 

359.419 

564,726 

83d 

194.564 

1,186,328 

1,380,892 

34th 

205,037 

428,358 

633,395 

84th 

215.426 

1. 191.375 

1,406,801 

35th 

209,821 

382,611 

592,432 

85th 

238,081 

1,316,047 

1.554,128 

36th 

221,450 
260,381 

444,565 

666,015 

86th 

283,288 

1,440,503 

1.723.791 

37th 

538,999 

799,380 

i^*^ 

302,121 

1,691,437 

1,993.558 

38th 

277.584 

537.815 

815.399 
749,896 

88th 

304,952 

1.465,939 

1,770,891 

39th 

256,087 

493,809 

89th 

290,847 

1,540,249 

1,831,096 

40th 

240,776 
258,846 

427,489 

668,265 

90th 

274.185 

1.962.574 

2.236,759 

41st 

511,21 1 

770.057 

91st 

272,077^ 

1,638,776 

1.910,853 

32d 

260,997 

451,048 

712,045 

92d 

262,518 

1.633,423 
1,840,106 

1.895,941 

43d 

269.826 

451,269 
486,306 

721,095 

93d 

312,922 

2,153.028 

44th 

267,466 

753,77  = 

94th 

327.636 

2,499,195 

2,826,831 

45th 

295.858 

426,020 

721,878 

95th 

393.230 

2,838,492 

3,231,722 

46th 

161,374 

932,468 
1,083,563 

1,093,842 

96th 

430,098 

3,261,103 

3,691,201 

47th 

175,554 
238,063 

1,259,117 

97th 

399,734 

3,649,876 

4,049,610 

48th 

1,262,501 

1,500,564 
1,830,756 
1,150,528 

98th 

412,229 

4.838,947 

5.251. 176 

49th 
50th 

239.097 
256,498 

1,591,659 
894.030 

99th 

352,469 

6,053.854 

6,406,323 

Total 

23,456,549 

86,469,665 

109,926,214 

577 


INDEX 


Abeel,   David,   ii8,   240. 

Academy  of  Music,  Jubilee  celebra- 
tion in,  320. 

Adams,  John,  Treasurer  of  Society,  90. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  Vice-President 
of  Society,  98;  death  of,  197;  pre- 
sides at  Bible  convention  in  Wash- 
ington, 204. 

Adams,  Rev.  Dr.  William,  address  of, 
at  funeral  of  Secretary  Brigham, 
266-267;  Jubilee  appeal  sent  out 
by,  319;  Jubilee  sermon  by,  319. 

Adger,  J.  B.,  Bible  translator,   167. 

Africa,  plans  to  evangelise,  in  1798,  7; 
first  American  colonists  sail  for, 
59;  Scriptures  distributed  in,  144, 
242,  315-317;  first  American  mis- 
sions in,  241;  translation  of  Scrip- 
tures into  native  languages  of,  241- 
242;  Scriptures  printed  for,  365- 
366. 

African  Scriptures,  issued  by  Society, 
447. 

Agencies,   list  of,  400  n.,   574-575. 

Agents,  number  of,  in  service  in  1842, 
178;  importance  of  work  of,  in  dis- 
tributing Bibles  among  the  desti- 
tute, 293-294;  spirit  of  fraternity 
among  different  denominations  pro- 
moted by,  294;  utter  devotion  to 
God's  purposes  an  essential  in  char- 
acter of,  294;  withdrawal  of,  from 
Vermont,  Virginia,  and  Rhode  Is- 
land, 295;  duties  of,  460. 

Aglipay  Church  in  Philippines,  de- 
velopment of,  leads  to  demand  for 
Scriptures,   509. 

Aitken,  Robert,  first  English  Bible 
printed  in  America  by,  3. 

Alabama  Bible  Society,  176;  resumes 
Auxiliary    relationship,    280. 

Albany    County   Auxiliary,    340. 

Alexander,  Rev.  Mr.,  missionary  in 
Egypt,  426. 

579 


Alf,  Rev.  Alfred,  Sub-Agent  in  China, 
501. 

Allan,  Rev.  George,  translation  for 
Quechua   Indians  by,  477. 

Allen,  Dr.  William  H.,  quoted,  339; 
elected  President,  348;  death  of, 
348. 

Allison,  Dr.,  Congress  petitioned  by, 
to  order  Bibles  printed,  3. 

American  Bible  Society,  first  Presi- 
dent, 3;  gift  from  British  and  For- 
eign Bible  Society  to,  9,  34;  organ- 
isation of,  first  proposed,  16-20; 
first  act  in  formation  of,  18;  or- 
ganised, 21-30;  original  form  of 
constitution,  25-27;  first  officers, 
29;  ratification  meeting  held  in 
City  Hall,  30;  first  Board  of  Man- 
agers, 29;  appreciation  of,  by  other 
societies,  33-36;  letter  to,  from 
British  Society,  35;  denounced,  36; 
auxiliary  relationship  to,  42-47; 
statement  by  Board  of  Managers 
in  regard  to  Auxiliary  Societies, 
45 ;  difficulties  encountered  in 
Auxiliary  system,  46-47;  first  issue 
of  Bibles  by,  49;  stereotype  plates 
given  to,  by  New  York  Bible  So- 
ciety, 49;  meets  need  of  Bibles  in 
foreign  languages,  51;  model  for 
form  of  administration,  52;  quota- 
tion from  Board  of  Managers'  first 
report,  52;  gift  of  German  and 
Spanish  Bibles  from  British  So- 
ciety to,  53;  independence  of,  53; 
gift  of  Bibles  from,  to  United 
States  Navy,  54;  work  among  for- 
eign countries  begun,  58-60;  con- 
fronted by  illiteracy,  63;  first  sal- 
ary paid  by,  65;  early  depositories 
of,  67;  Bible  House  on  Nassau 
Street,  67;  growth  of,  83;  adopts 
resolutions  for  first  General  Supply 
in  United  States,  86;  foreign  work 
of,  broadened,  102-110,  i 19-120; 
adopts    rule    to    supply    Bibles    to 


58o 


INDEX 


American  Foreign  Missions,  103- 
104;  foreign  activities  of,  112;  dis- 
cussion by,  of  plan  for  General 
Supply  of  world,  113-117;  plans  to 
increase  circulation  of  the  Bible, 
1 1 7-1 18;  difficulties  attending  plans 
for  expansion,  122-123;  desire  to 
aid  publication  of  foreign  transla- 
tions of  Bible,  130-131;  appeals 
to,  from  foreign  missionaries,  131- 
132;  attitude  of,  as  a  federation, 
toward  slavery  question,  136-139; 
need  of  agents  to  oversee  foreign 
distribution,  144-146,  148;  co-oper- 
ation with  missionaries  undertaken, 
148;  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of, 
162-163;  pressing  problems  in 
home  field,  164;  problems  of  reach- 
ing frontier  districts,  172;  repub- 
lishes statement  of  1834  in  1845, 
185;  adopts  resolutions  for  Second 
General  Supply  in  United  States, 
198;  distribution  in  Italy,  212; 
money  grants  of,  to  Germany  up  to 
1 86 1,  212;  distribution  through 
missionaries  in  Turkey,  227-229,; 
grants  to  Jaffna  Auxiliary,  238; 
grant  to  India  for  translation,  239; 
appropriation  by,  to  assist  revision 
of  Chinese  Bible,  244;  encourage- 
ment from  the  South  to,  256; 
Bibles  sent  to  Virginia  Bible  So- 
ciety by,  263;  Army  Agency  of, 
279;  grant  to  Bible  Society  of 
France  by,  299;  re-statement  in 
1863  of  policy  toward  nations,  299; 
expansion  of  field  in  fifty  years, 
326,  327,  328;  presents  plates  of 
Arabic  Bible  to  British  Society, 
331-332;  charges  of  mismanage- 
ment brought  against,  333;  gener- 
ous donations  to,  during  war  pe- 
riod, 334;  from  Boston,  337-338; 
influences  which  hamper  work  of, 
337-343'.  table  showing  financial 
stress  following  war  times,  338; 
financial  condition  of,  after  war, 
338-340,  341,  342,  345;  education 
of  public  to  power  of  Bible  neces- 
sary to  support  of,  343;  bequests 
to,  345,  523;  changes  in  charter 
and  constitution,  364;  unjust  criti- 
cism of,  370-372;  seventy-fifth  an- 
niversary of,  431-439;  record  of 
labours  of  seventy-five  years,  432- 
437;  library  of  the,  445-446;  pres- 
ent   number    of    Auxiliaries,    457; 


effect  of  increased  immigration  on 
Home  Agencies  of,  464;  foreign 
language  Bibles  in  depository  of, 
464-465;  number  published  and 
circulation  of  Chinese  Bibles  by, 
502;  need  of  appeals  for  money  to 
carry  on  work  of,  521-523;  appeal 
of  1904  for  contributions,  528;  re- 
duction of  appropriations  necessary 
in  1914  and  1915,  529;  purpose  of 
formation  of,  530,  531;  aim  of, 
532;  those  benefited  by,  532;  devel- 
opment of  work  of  translation, 
533-534;  estimate  of  total  foreign 
distribution,  534;  table  of  early 
grants  made  by,  540. 

American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions,  formed,  11;  re- 
moval of,  from  Bible  House,  449. 

American  Colonisation  Society,  59,  73, 

American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 
formation  of,  in  1836,  157. 

American  and  Foreign  Christian  Un- 
ion, grant  to,   302,   306. 

American  Missions,  grants  to,  in  twen- 
ty-five years,    133. 

American  Mission  Press,  in  Madras, 
156;  in  Malta,  227. 

American  Presbyterian  Mission,  in 
Lodiana   District,   239. 

Americans,  Bible  destitution  among, 
466. 

American   Standard   Revision,  446. 

American  Sunday  School  Union,  re- 
ceives New  Testaments  for  chil- 
dren, 88;  supplied  with  Bibles  by 
Society,    157. 

American  Tract  Society,  arrangement 
with,  for  distribution  of  Scriptures 
in  West,  202-203. 

Anderson,  Rev.  Dr.  Rufus,  79;  quoted, 
104,  166;  address  by,  at  Jubilee, 
322. 

Andover  Theological  Seminary,  mis- 
sionary  spirit  in,   81. 

Andrus,  Rev.  Dr.,  translator  of  Bible 
into  Kurdish,  363,  423-424. 

Annual  Report,  issued  by  Society,  446. 

Anti-Slavery  Society,  proposal  made 
by,  to  Board,  i37-i39- 

Appenzeller,  Rev.  H.  G.,  missionary  to 
Korea,  418;  work  of,  on  Korean 
Version,    486. 

Apocrypha  question,   100—101. 

Arabia,  grants  by  Society  to  Reformed 
Church  Mission  in,  526. 


INDEX 


S8i 


Arabic  letters  drawn  by  Dr.  Smith, 
330. 

Arabic  Version  of  Bible,  233-234,  330, 
331- 

Arawack,  version  of  Book  of  Acts 
published   in,   223. 

Argentina,  Mr.   Milne's  field,  390. 

Armenian,  Version  of  Bible  in,  149, 
227,  360;  Bible  printed  in,  at  Bible 
House  (1858),  199;  Reference 
Bible  in,  425. 

Armenian  Massacre,  of  1893,  513;  of 
1909,  513. 

Armenians,  readiness  of,  to  receive 
the  Bible,  227;  missionaries  sent 
to,  227-228;  Bible  distribution 
among,  228  flf. ;  persecution  of 
Evangelical  Armenians  by  Arme- 
nian Church,  230;  Socialistic  prop- 
aganda among,  516. 

Armenian  women  send  money  to  sup- 
ply Bible  to  Korea. 

Armeno-Turkish  Version  of  Bible,  227, 
229,  231-232;  revision  of,  425-426. 

Armies,  Bibles  supplied  to,  in  Civil 
War,  269-276. 

Asiatic  Turkey,  distribution  in,  422, 
423. 

Aspinwall,  John,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29;  death  of,  196. 

Aspinwall,  William  H.,  death  of,  354. 

Aston-Binns,  Rev.  T.,  of  England,  at 
seventy-fifth   anniversary,   431. 

Atlantic  Agency,  organised,  462;  cir- 
culation in,  465. 

Austria,  difficulty  of  distribution  in, 
211,  383-384;  circulation  in  (1891- 

1915),  525- 
Auxiliary  Bible  Societies,  founding  of, 
40;  theory  of,  40-42;  line  marked 
between,  and  other  Bible  societies, 
44;  change  of  system  in  connection 
with  National  Society,  84-87; 
growth  in  number,  92;  donations 
to  Society  up  to  1832,  94;  perplexi- 
ties created  by  inefficient,  123-127; 
system  of,  main  financial  reliance 
of  Society,  125,  154;  distribution 
by,  174,  175-177;  number  lost  to 
main  Society  in  seceded  States  in 
Civil  War,  257;  Bibles  supplied  to 
soldiers  in  Civil  War  by,  272-273; 
amount  of  donations  received  from, 
in  1866,  284;  important  activities 
of,  in  period  following  Civil  War, 
291-295;  Jubilee  meetings  of,  318; 
assistance      of,      during      financial 


stress,  340;  ineflficiency  of  many, 
342;  partial  explanation  of  disso- 
lution of  some,  452;  revision  of 
roll  of,  456. 

Auxiliary  New  York  Bible  Society,  be- 
comes Auxiliary  of  National  So- 
ciety, 33,  44;  takes  name  of  New 
York  Bible   Society,  93. 

Avederanian,  Hohannes,  Mohammedan 
convert,    430, 

Ayachucho,  colporteur  attacked  in, 
475. 

Azerbaijan  Turkish  Version,  363. 


B 


Bachellor,  Rev.  John,  preparation  of 
Ainu  Version  of  Psalms  by,  484. 

Baez,  Rev.  Victoriano  D.,  member  of 
Committee  on  revision  of  Spanish 
Version,  480,  481. 

Bailly,  Mr.,  Agent  in  Venezuela,  478, 
575- 

Baird,  Rev.  W.  F.,  Agent  of  Bible 
Society  among  Southern  coloured 
people,    282. 

Bakhit,  M.,  Sub-Agent  in  Egypt,  519. 

Ballagh,  Rev.  Dr.,  incident  in  Japan 
described  by,  415. 

Bangkok,  Scriptures  printed  in,  366. 

Banks,  Dr.  James  L.,  death  of,  354. 

Baptist  Board  of  Missions,  resolutions 
adopted  by,  relative  to  foreign 
translations  of  Bible,   142. 

Baptist  Church,  approval  voted  at 
General   Convention  of,  33. 

Baptist  missionaries,  work  of,  in  Ger- 
many, 211-212. 

Baptist  Missionary  Society,  established 
1792,  7. 

Bath  and  Wells,  Bishop  of,  sermon  by, 
on  results  of  Society's  labours,  373. 

Baughman,  Rev.  J.  A.,  Agent  in  Mich- 
igan,  179. 

Baxter,  Dr.,  letter  from,  on  world 
supply,    113. 

Bayard,  Samuel,  member  of  Commit- 
tee on  Constitution,  25;  member  of 
first  Board  of  Managers,  29;  at 
death  bed  of  Dr.   Boudinot,  69. 

Bayard,  William,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29. 

Bear,  Mr.,  colporteur  in   Manila,   508. 

Beck,  Rev.  S.  A.,  Agent  in  Korea,  486. 

Beecher,  Rev,  Dr.  Lyman,  one  of 
secretaries  of  first  Convention,  22; 
quoted,   24;    member   of   Committee 


582 


INDEX 


on  Constitution,  25;  mentioned,  86; 
death  of,  287. 

Beirut,  Scriptures  printed  at,  366. 

Benga,   Scriptures  printed  in,  366. 

Bengali  translation  of  Bible,  contro- 
versy over,  139-142. 

Benson,    Rev.    H.    H.,    370. 

Bergne,  Dr.,  Secretary  of  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  225;  quoted 
on  receipt  of  Arabic  plates  from 
Society,   332. 

Berlin,    Scriptures  printed  in,   366. 

Bethune,  Divie,  on  first  Board  of  Man- 
agers, 29;  tracts  circulated  by,  32; 
death  of,  99. 

Bethune,  Rev.  G.  W.,  quoted,  107. 

Bettelheim,  Rev.  Dr.,  translator  of 
Scriptures  into  Japanese,  313;  offer 
of  translation  to   Society,  314. 

Bible,  brought  to  America  by  early  set- 
tlers, I ;  sale  of,  stopped  by  Revo- 
lution, 3;  English  Versions  of,  134; 
power  of,  to  change  men,  167-170, 
475.  536;  influence  of,  on  nations, 
168-170. 

Bible  Board,  created  by  Methodist 
Episcopal   Church  South,  458. 

Bible  Day,  observance  of,  450;  in  Bul- 
garia    (1913),    520. 

Bible  distribution,  results  produced 
by,  4,  89-91;  reasons  for  under 
taking,  in  Latin  America,  55-56. 
See   Distribution. 

Bible  House,  Nassau  Street,  enlarged 
84;  Astor  Place,  cornerstone  of 
laid,  193;  expansion  of  work  in 
194;  Bibles  in  foreign  languages 
printed  at,  199;  payment  of  mort 
gage  on,  in  1863,  283;  improve 
ments  in  book-making  at,  365;  re 
pairs  and  improvements  made  in 
365;  increase  of  printing  at,  446, 

Bibles,  twenty  thousand  imported 
from  Holland  (1777).  3;  cities 
where  printed  in  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, 3—4;  constant  renewal  of  gen- 
eral supply  of,  89;  distribution  of, 
through  Life  Members,  173;  by 
pastors,  173-174. 
Bible    Societies,    obstacles   encountered 

by  local,   95. 
Bible     Society    of    France,    organised, 

1864,  299,  319. 
Bible      Society       Record,       illustrated 
monthly,  issued  by   Society,  quoted 
on  Jubilee,  320;  mentioned,  446. 
Biblical    Library,    founded    by    British 


and    Foreign    Missionary    Society, 
53. 

Bidwell,  Marshall  S.,  Vice-President 
of  Society,  353. 

Bidwell,  Rev.  Mr.,  suggests  work  in 
Siberia,   381. 

Biggs,  Rev,  Dr.  T.  S.,  death  of,  287. 

Bingham,  Rev.  Hiram,  missionary  to 
Sandwich  Islands,  162,  163;  trans- 
lator,   167. 

Bingham,  Rev.  Hiram,  Jr.,  Gilbert 
Islands  translator,  362;  mentioned, 
436;   death  of,  448,  449. 

Bingham,  John,  on  first  Board  of  Man- 
agers, 29. 

Bishop,  Dr.  Nathan,  death  of,  354. 

Bissell,  Rev.  Mr.,  work  of,  in  Aus- 
tria,  383. 

Blackford,  Rev.  Mr.,  missionary  at 
Rio  Janeiro,  224,  304;  Agent  in 
Brazil,   396. 

Blanco,  Gen.  Guzman,  liberal  views  of, 
398. 

Bleecker,   Garrat  N.,  Treasurer,    100, 

Bleecker,  Leonard,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29. 

Blind,  New  Testament  prepared  for 
the,  156;  printing  of  Bible  for  the, 
200-201;  embossed  Scriptures  for 
the,  published,  365 ;  Spanish  Gos- 
pel of  St.  John  printed  for,  473; 
Bible  printed  in  Point  system  and 
in  Braille  for,  524;  list  of  systems, 
564. 

Bliss,  Rev.  E.  M.,  appointed  Assistant 
Agent,   426. 

Bliss,  Rev.  Dr.  I.  G.,  Agent  in  Tur- 
key, 234-235,  316,  421,  422,  424, 
426,  427;  plan  of,  for  Bible  House 
in  Constantinople,  317;  address  by, 
at  Jubilee,  323;  mentioned,  328; 
report  of,  on  cost  of  translations 
in   Turkey,    360. 

Blodgett,  Rev.  Dr.,  missionary  in 
North  China,  311;  Chinese  New 
Testament  translation  by,  361. 

Blythe,  Rev.  Dr.  James,  member  of 
Committee  on  Constitution,  25; 
mentioned,  49;  extract  from  letter 
regarding  Latin  Americans,   75. 

Board  of  Managers,  list  of  members 
of,   547-553- 

Board   of   Revisers  in   Korea,  486. 
Bogota,  Scriptures  sent  to,  223. 
Boker,  George  H„  United  States  Min- 
ister to  Turkey,  422. 


INDEX 


583 


Bolivia,  Mr.  Milne's  field,  390;  re- 
striction removed  in,   476. 

Bolles,  Rev.  C.  A.,  retirement  of,  370. 

Bolton,  John,   Vice-President,   30. 

Bombay,  effect  on  Jews  of  distribu- 
tion in,    167. 

Bond,  Rev.   Richard,  Agent,   179. 

Boone,  Bishop,  member  of  Committee 
on  Chinese  Bible  translation,  310; 
teaches  Chinese  to  Mr.  Scheres- 
chewski,  498. 

Booth,  W.  T.,  death  of,  445. 

Boudinot,  Dr.  Elias,  first  Presi- 
dent American  Bible  Society,  3; 
statement  issued  by,  16;  quoted,  17, 
election  of,  as  President,  29;  men- 
tioned, 35,  66,  73,  74,  122;  extract 
from  letter  of  acceptance  of  office, 
38;  extract  from  letter  of,  61;  resi- 
dence of,  in  Burlington,  N.  J.,  61; 
presides  at  annual  meetings,  61; 
death  of,  69;  portrait  of,  by  Sully, 
70;  age  of,  at  death,  269. 

Bowen,  Rev.  Dr.  Marcellus,  Agent  for 
the  Levant,  427,  515,  516,  517,  519, 
520. 

Boyd,  Samuel,  on  first  Board  of  Man- 
agers, 29. 

Bradish,  Luther,  elected  President  of 
Bible  Society,  268;  sketch  of  career, 
and  death,   268;  age  at  death,  269. 

Brahmins,  sway  of,  237. 

Brazil,  attempt  to  found  Huguenot 
colony  in,  223;  work  of  American 
missionaries  in,  224;  organised 
work  of  Bible  distribution  in,  224- 
225;  Agency  in,  396-397.  470,  473" 
475. 

Breckenridge,  Rev.  John,  quoted,  152. 

Bremen,  Scriptures  printed  in,  366; 
Methodist  Episcopal  Mission  in, 
382. 

Brewer,  David  J.,  death  of,  443; 
quoted,  521;  signed  appeal  for  con- 
tributions, 528. 

Brewer,  Rev.  Josiah,  suggestion  of 
work  in  foreign  parts  by,  105,  112; 
missionary   to    Smyrna,    132. 

Bridel,  Rev.  Mr.,  sent  from  France  in 

J       1848,   209. 

Bridgman,  Rev.  Dr.  E.  C,  missionary 
at  Canton,  China,  106,  132,  167, 
244;  member  of  committee  on  Chi- 
nese   Bible    translation,    310. 

Brigham,  Rev.  John  C,  Bibles  sold 
by,  in  Peru,  77:  quoted,  78;  ad- 
dress   quoted,    79-80;    chosen    As- 


sistant Secretary,  80;  elected  Sec- 
retary for  Domestic  Correspond- 
ence, 80;  mentioned,  125;  report 
of,  at  twenty-fifth  anniversary,  162; 
death  of,  266;  Dr.  Adams'  tribute 
to,  266-267;  mentioned,  355,  395. 

Brinckerhoff,  Elbert  A.,  death  of,  444. 

British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  es- 
tablished, 8;  money  granted  Ameri- 
can Society  by,  9;  letter  from,  to 
Dr.  Boudinot,  35-36;  mentioned, 
40,  41,  51,  52,  53,  56,  57,  62,  76,  77, 
100,  103,  104,  116,  126,  148,  149, 
211,  212,  213,  222,  224,  227,  232, 
234,  240,  243,  263,  283,  302,  319, 
360,  390,  449.  453.  464.  474.  477. 
480,  483,  484,  485,  497,  504,  505. 
506,  507,  526;  one  hundredth  an- 
niversary  of,  450. 

Brooklyn  Bible  Society,  454,  463. 

Brooks,  Phillips,  seventy-fifth  anniver- 
sary address  by,  431;  quoted,  437- 
439. 

Brouwer,  Theophilus  Anthony,  elected 
President  of  Society,  443;  death  of, 
443. 

Brown,  James,  Vice-President,  30. 

Brown,  James  M.,  Vice-President,  352. 

Brown,  Rev.  John  C,  Bibles  distribu- 
ted among  Protestants  of  North 
Russia  and  Finland  through  plan 
of,  213-214. 

Brown,  Rev.  Dr.  S.  R.,  translator  in 
Japanese,  361. 

Brown,  Rev.  William  M.,  Agent  in 
Brazil,  396. 

Browne,  Rev.  Dr.  G.  S.  J.,  Central 
Agency  Secretary,  462. 

Brunetiere,  quoted,  2. 

Buck,  Richard  P.,  Vice-President,  353. 

Buckingham,  William  A.,  Vice-Presi- 
dent, 350. 

Buel,  Rev.  F.,  San  Francisco  Society 
organised  by,  177;  Agent  for  Cali- 
fornia, 202. 

Buenos  Aires,  grant  of  Testaments  to 
public  schools  of,  in  1819,  57;  men- 
tioned, 79,  81,  222,  223;  salesroom 
in,  476. 

Bulgarian  New  Testament,  329. 

Bulgarian  Version  of  Bible,  360,  425; 
circulation  of,  428. 

Bunker,  Rev.  D.  A.,  Superintendent 
of  Society's  work  in  Korea  in  190 1, 
484;  in   1907,  485. 

Burdon,  Bishop,  translation  of  Chi- 
nese New  Testament  by,  361. 


5^4 


INDEX 


Burma,  Scriptures  distributed  in,   144, 

Burr,  Jonathan,  legacy  of,  for  the 
blind,  524. 

Burrill,  Ebenezer,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29. 

Burton,  Rev.  J.,  of  Canada,  at  seventy- 
fifth  anniversary,  431. 


Caldwell,  John  E.,  first  General  Agent, 
67,  192. 

Calhoun,  John  C,  quoted,  48. 

Calhoun,  Rev.  Simeon  H.,  Agent  for 
foreign  distribution,  148—152,  156, 
158,  159,  2.2T,  22g-22,2;  Bibles  dis- 
tributed outside  of  Turkey  by,  230- 
231. 

California,  effect  of  discovery  of  gold 
in,  on  work  of  Bible  Society,  201- 
202. 

California  Bible  Society,  co-operation 
of,  in  organisation  of  Pacific  Agen- 
cy, 462. 

Cameron,  Duncan,   death  of,   196. 

Cameron,  Rev.  W,  W.,  Agent  pro  tem, 
in  Siam,  491;  work  of,  in  Shanghai, 
501. 

Campbell,  Duncan  P.,  on  first  Board 
of  Managers,  29. 

Canada,      Scriptures      distributed     in, 

144- 

Canton,  ^ub- Agency  in,  501. 

Canton  Colloquial  Version,  493,  497. 

Capen,  S.  B.,  death  of,  444. 

Cape  Palmas  Mission  in  Africa,  315. 

Caracas  Bible   Society,  76,  222. 

Carew,  Rev.  Dr.  E.  D.,  missionary  at 
Buenos  Aires,  222. 

Carey,  William,  establishment  of  Bap- 
tist Missionary  Society  due  to,  7; 
work  in  connection  with  Bible 
printing  in  India,  59,  60. 

Carpenter,  Thomas,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29. 

Carrington,  Rev.  John,  Agent  in  Siam, 
409,  490,  491;  Princeton  gives  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Divinity  to,  492; 
death  of,  492. 

Carter,  Robert,  Vice-President,  353. 

Carthagena,  Spanish  Bibles  sent  to, 
76,  222,  225. 

Casey,  Gen.,  quoted,  394. 

Castells,  F.  deP.,  colporteur  in  Manila, 
S05. 

Cauldwell,  Dr.,  on  world  supply,  113. 

Cauldwell,  John,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29. 


Centennial  Bible,  issuing  of,  365. 
Central  Agency,  organised,  462;  Bible 

destitution    in,    among    Americans, 

466. 
Central  America,  distribution  in,  220- 

221,  303-304;  Agencies  in,  397; 
Society  established  in,  470;  British 
and  Foreign  Society  transfers  work 
in,  to  American  Society,  480. 

Ceylon,  American  Board  mission  in, 
59;  missionaries  in,  receive  aid 
from  Board,  102,  144,  236,  238, 
308. 

Chamberlain,  Rev.  Dr.  Jacob,  ex- 
plores territories  of  Nizam  of  Hy- 
derabad, 308;  revision  of  Telugus 
version  by,  363;  shells  accepted  as 
coin  by,  403. 

Chamberlain,  J.  L.,  pfesides  at  assem- 
bly in  Bible  House  on  seventy-fifth 
anniversary,  431;  death  of,  444. 

Chamberlain,  Rev.  L.  B.,  elected  As- 
sistant    Corresponding     Secretary, 

445. 

Chamorro  Version,  448. 

Champlain  Bible  Society,  distribution 
by,  among  French  Canadians,  203. 

Changsha,  Sub-Agency  in,  501. 

Charles,  Thomas,  mentioned,  453. 

Charleston,  S.  C,  Auxiliary,  175;  sup- 
plies troops  passing  through  city 
(1846-47),    183;    mentioned,   340. 

Charnock,  Stephen,  quoted,  2. 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  Vice-President  of 
Bible  Society,  291,  350. 

Chengtu,   Sub-Agency   in,    501. 

Chestnut,  Eleanor,  M.D.,  translation 
of  Sam  Kiong  Version  by,  497. 

Chicago  Bible  Society,  grant  of  money 
to,  after  fire  (1871),  337;  nucleus 
of  Northwestern  Agency,  460. 

Chickering  Hall,  seventy-fifth  anniver- 
sary  celebration    held   in,   431. 

Chile,  distribution  in,  76,  77,  79,   147, 

222,  223,  476;  Dr.  Trumbull's  mis- 
sion in,  390. 

China,  distribution  in,  144,  310—312, 
404-408;  advance  in  missionary 
work  in,  after  1842,  242;  contro- 
versy in,  over  translation  of 
"God,"  310;  Agencies  in,  401-408, 
409;  printing  presses  owned  by 
American  missions  in,  401,  402; 
obstacles  to  distribution  in,  403; 
price  paid  for  Bibles  in,  403;  in- 
crease of  circulation  in,  from  1893 
to  191 5,  493;  Emperor  buys  a  Bible, 


INDEX 


58s 


495;  internal  disorders  in  (1897- 
1916),  493-495;  distribution  among 
students  of  Nanking  in  1894,  499; 
distribution  in,  at  present  time,  502. 

Chinese  Bible,  arrival  of,  at  Bible 
House,  102;  fund  for,  124;  trans- 
lation of,  242—243;  controversy  at- 
tending translation,  243-245;  Amer- 
ican  Committee  on,   310. 

Chinese  Bridgman-Culbertson  Version, 
411   n. 

Chinese  in  California,  efforts  to  reach, 
at  time  of  gold  discovery,  201-202. 

Chinese   Colloquial   Versions,  496-497. 

Chinese  Exclusion  Bill,  effect  of,  on 
Agents,  408. 

Chippeway  version  of  New  Testament, 
200. 

Choate,  Joseph,  representative  of  So- 
ciety at  Centenary  Meeting  in  Lon- 
don, 450. 

Choctaw,    Scriptures   in,   200. 

Cholera  epidemic  of  1849,  effect  on 
work  of.  Bible  Society,  201. 

Christian  Advocate,  178. 

Christian  Commission,  distribution  of 
Bibles  by,  during  Civil  War,  272, 
274,  275;  account  of  aims  and  work 
of,  275;  co-operation  of,  in  distri- 
bution, 333. 

Christian  Watchman  and  Reflector,  re- 
view of  controversy  of  1836  pub- 
lished in,  142. 

Christie,  Rev.  Dr.,  work  of,  as  trans- 
lator, 425. 

Chungking,  Sub- Agency  in,  501. 

Church  Missionary  Society,  formed 
(1798),  7. 

Cincinnati  Young  Men's  Bible  So- 
ciety, supplies  troops  passing 
through   city    (1846-47),    183. 

City  Hotel,  annual  meetings  held  in, 
67. 

Civil  War,  events  of  period  preceding, 
246-257;  breaking  out  of,  256—257; 
course  of  Bible  Society  during, 
258  ff. ;  Bibles  supplied  to  soldiers, 
269—275;  work  carried  on  by  Chris- 
tian Commission,  275-276;  damages 
wrought  in  South  by,  277-278. 

Clark,  Rev.  Dr.  N.  G.,  urges  circula- 
tion of  Chinese  Scriptures,  401. 

Clark,  Rev.  William,  Missionary  in 
Milan,  305. 

Qarkson,  Gen.,  presiding  officer  at 
Board  meetings  in  absence  of  Dr. 
Boudinot,  62;  death  of,  99. 


Clatsop  County,  Oregon,  Auxiliary  So- 
ciety,  188. 

Cleveland,  Ex-President,  signs  appeal 
for  contributions,   528. 

Clinton,  De  Witt,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29;  mentioned,  32;  death 
of,  98. 

Cock,  Dr.  Thomas,  member  of  Versions 
Committee,  253;  death  of,  288. 

Cocke,  John  II.,  death  of,  288. 

Collins,  Rev.  V.  D,,  agent  of  American 
Bible  Society  in  South  America, 
222-223. 

Colombia  Bible  Society,  organised  at 
Bogota,  76;  mentioned,  79,  144;  So- 
ciety established  in,  470. 

Coloured  people,  problem  presented  by, 
after  close  of  Civil  War,  281-282; 
admitted  to  some  Southern  Bible 
Societies,   282;   Agency   for,  460. 

Colporteurs,  employed  to  assist  Agents, 
180;  money  granted  for  maintain- 
ing, 311;  some  types  of,  in  Con- 
stantinople, 328;  martyrdom  of,  in 
China  (1899),  496;  number  of,  in 
China  at  present,  501. 

Colton,  Rev.  A.  E.,  Field  Agent,  458. 

Committee  on  Agencies,  appointed,  123. 

Committee  which  drafted  constitution 
of  American   Bible   Society,   25. 

Committee  on  Versions,  members  of, 
249;   trials  of,  250-253. 

Cone,  S.  H.,  mentioned,  117;  elected 
a  Corresponding  Secretary,  120; 
dissent  of,  on  Bengali  Testament 
controversy,  140;  resignation  of,  as 
Secretary,  142. 

Confederate  States'  Bible  Society,  or- 
ganised in   1862,  260. 

Conference  of  Auxiliaries,  held  in 
1900,  454;  resolutions  adopted  at, 
454-456. 

Congress,  called  upon  to  remedy  Bible 
famine  in  i777,  3- 

Connecticut  Bible  Society,  organised, 
g;  support  by,  of  plan  for  General 
Bible  Society,  17;  donation  from,  to 
American  Society,  88;  Bibles  given 
to  soldiers  by,  272;  Auxiliary  rela- 
tionship terminated,  457;  Centen- 
nial of,  457. 

Connecticut  Congregational  Associa- 
tion, charges  of  mismanagement  of 
Society  refuted  by,  33-2;  quoted, 
345. 

Connecticut  Missionary  Society,  ex- 
ploration in  West  by,  11. 


586 


INDEX 


Connecticut    Religious    Tract    Society, 

established,   7. 
Conservator  of   Sects,  American  Bible 

Society  denounced  by,  36. 
Constantinople,    Bible    House    in,    317, 

420;  Scriptures  printed  in,  366. 
Constitution    of    American    Bible    So- 
ciety, modified  and  revised   (1904), 

446;  given  in  full,  570-573- 
Convention   of    1816,   list   of  members 

of,  538-539. 
Convention    at    Washington    in    1844, 

204. 
Cooper,   James   Fenimore,   delegate   to 

first    Convention    American    Bible 

Society,  22. 
Copp,  A.  A.,  colporteur  in  China,  404, 

409. 
Coquimbo,    opposition    to    distribution 

in,   147. 
Corbeau,  Father  Telmonde  at,  203. 
Cote,  Dr.,  Missionary  in  Rome,  387. 
County    Bible    Society    Annual    Meet- 
ing, 451-452. 
Crane,    Mr.,    chosen    Assistant    Secre- 
tary, 80. 
Creolese,  translation  of  Bible  into,  329. 
Crimean    War,    Bible    distribution    in 

Turkey  during,  232-233. 
Crisis  of  1857,  effects  of,  felt  by  Bible 

Society,    246-248. 
Cristobal,  Bible  House  at,  480. 
Crosby,  William  B.,  death  of,  288. 
Crouse,     Rev.     F.     C,     Sub-Agent    in 

China,  500. 
Crowe,  Rev.  F.,  Missionary  in  Guate 

mala,  223. 
Cuba,  Bibles  sold  in  by  Roman  Catho 

lie   clergy,   77;    Scriptures   sent  to 

218;  distribution  in,  389. 
Culbertson,  Rev.  Dr.,  member  of  Com 

mittee  on  Chinese  Bible  translation 

310. 
Cumberland   County    Society    (N.   J.) 

mentioned,  340,  457. 
Cumings,   A.    P.,   member   of  Finance 

Committee,  352. 
Cummings,  J.  W.,  Jubilee  sermon  by, 

319. 
Cutter,    B.   H.,   entire  estate   given  to 

Society,  528. 


Dakota,    large    field    for    work    in,    in 
1906,  461. 


Dakota  Indians,  version  of  Scriptures 
in  language  of,  200. 

Dalzell,  James,  Agent  ad  interim  at 
Shanghai  (1889-1890),  409. 

Dana,  C.  A.,  Sub- Agent  in  Syria,  519. 

Danish  Scriptures,  126. 

Dardier,  Mr.,  Agent  of  Geneva  So- 
ciety, 386. 

Davis,  Rev.  Dr.,  411. 

De  Castello,  Rev.  R,  M.,  investigates 
European  publishing  houses  for  So- 
ciety,  464. 

Deems,  Professor,  quoted  on  sale  of 
Bibles  by  recipients,  203;  quoted 
concerning  effect  of  Bible  in  be- 
nighted districts,  206. 

Delaporte,  P.  A,,  translation  of  New 
Testament  into  Nauru,  447. 

Delegates  to  first  Convention  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society,  22-23. 

De  Luca,  Italian  colporteur,  establishes 
night  school  in  Ladd,  111.,  461;  fur- 
ther work  of,  461. 

Dencke,  Rev.  Mr.,  translation  of  Bible 
into  Delaware  language  undertaken 
by,  51,  167. 

Denmark,  distribution  in,  297-298. 

De  Palma,  Joaquin,  sent  to  Venezuela 
by  Society,  398. 

Der  Kevork,  Armenian  priest,  228- 
229. 

De  Sacy,  version  of  Bible  by,  brought 
out  in  Paris,  58. 

Destitution,  reports  of,  to  Society,  83- 
84;  plans  to  relieve  in  United 
States,  86,  198,  293,  345;  in  the 
world,   113. 

Dickinson,  Rev.  Dr.,  Field  Agent,  458. 

Diez,  Rev.  Francisco,  member  of  Com- 
mittee on  Revision  of  Spanish  Ver- 
sion, 480. 

Distribution,  developed  under  pres- 
sure of  claim  of  home  field,  171- 
181;  by  auxiliaries,  174-177; 
through  Agents,  177-181;  good  re- 
sults following  ease  of,  through 
army  lines,  334;  on  railroads,  374; 
to  children  (1890),  375;  by  volun- 
tary workers,  501;  regulations  re- 
specting, in  foreign  lands,  560-561. 

District  Superintendents,  work  of,  and 
discontinuation  of,  453. 

Doane,  Rev.  Mr.,  Scripture  translated 
into   Ponape  language  by,  362. 

Doering,  Rev.  Dr.,  in  charge  of  Metho- 
dist mission  at  Bremen,  382. 

Dodge,  William  E.,  death  of,  354. 


I 


INDEX 


587 


Donaldson,  James,  member  of  Finance 
Committee,  352. 

Donations,  total  in  fifty  years,  326. 

Douay  Version  of  Bible,  printing  of, 
not   constitutional,    130. 

Douglass,  George,  death  of,  287. 

Douglass,  James,  donation  to  Society 
by,  159. 

Dred  Scott  decision,  indirect  effects  of, 
on  Bible  Society,  253. 

Drees,  Rev.  Charles  W.,  church  or- 
ganised by,  at  Callao,  Peru,  393; 
member  of  Committee  on  Revision 
of   Spanish   Version,  480,   481. 

Du  Bose,  Rev.  Mr,,  of  Suchow,  406, 
408. 

Duffield,  Mr.,  Agent  of  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  in  South 
America,  222. 

Durbin,  Rev.   H.  J.,  Agent,   179. 

Dutch  Scriptures,  126. 

Dwight,  Rev.  H,  O.,  elected  Recording 
Secretary,  445. 

Dwight,  H.  G.  O.,  translator  of  Scrip- 
tures, 167;  at  Nicomedia,  228. 


Earle,  John,  death  of,  354. 

Eastburn,  Bishop,  quoted,  23;  charge 
to  clergy  on  Society's  Jubilee,  324. 

Eastern  Agency,  organised,  462. 

Easy  Wenli  Version,  work  on  revision 
of,  361,  497. 

Eckard,  Rev.  Dr.  L.  W.,  Atlantic 
Agency  Secretary,  462. 

Ecuador,  mentioned,  79;  liberty  of 
worship  granted  in,  475. 

Ecumerical  Missionary  Conference  of 
1900,   449. 

Eddy,  Thomas,  on  first  Board  of  Man- 
agers, 29. 

Egypt,  distribution  in,  316. 

Elliott,  Rev.  W.  S.,  Eastern  Agency 
Secretary,  462;  returns  to  China, 
463;  Sub-Agent  in  China,  501. 

Ellsworth,  W.  W.,  death  of,  288. 

English  Version  of  Bible,  Society  re- 
sponsible for  excellence  of,  133. 

Esthonians,  distribution  among,  213, 
299,  380. 

Europe,  results  of  turbulent  conditions 
in,  from   1848  to  1850,  208-216. 

Evarts,  Jeremiah,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29.  32,  58. 

"  Extracts  from  Correspondence,"  is- 
sued by  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  52. 


F 


Fancher,  Enoch  L.,  elected  President, 
349;  presides  at  seventy-fifth  an- 
niversary celebration,  431;  death 
of,  441. 

Fanshaw,  Mr.,  room  in  building  oc- 
cupied by,  used  as  depository,  192. 

Farmer,  Rev.  Harry,  work  of,  in  Phil- 
ippines, 511. 

Farmer,  Thomas,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29. 

Farnam,  Rev.  George  E.,  Western 
Agency  Secretary,  463;  death  of, 
463. 

Ferris,  Rev.  Dr.  Isaac,  chairman  of 
Distribution  Committee,  190;  Jubi- 
lee sermon  by,  320. 

Ferris,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.,  delegate  to 
seventy-fifth  anniversary,  431. 

Field  Agents  replace  District  Superin- 
tendents, 457;  office  abolished,  459. 

Fielstedt,  Rev.  Mr.,  missionary  at 
Bucharest,  231. 

Financial  stress  of  1836,   157-158. 

Finland,  aid  given  Bible  work  in,  by 
American  Society,  213,  214. 

Fisher,  Henry,  Assistant  Treasurer  of 
Society,  356;  death  of,  and  tribute 
to,  289. 

Fisk,  Rev.  Pliny,  227. 

Fitch,  Dr.,  of  Suchow,  mentioned,  406. 

Fletcher,  Rev.  J.  G.,  Agent  in  Brazil, 
224,  304. 

Flinn,  Rev.  Glenn,  Southwestern 
Agency  Secretary,  462;  resigns,  463. 

Foochow  Colloquial  Version,  493. 

Foreign  Agent,  advantages  gained  by 
appointing,  149-152. 

Foreign  countries  to  which  Bibles  were 
sent  in  1834,  144. 

Foreign  distribution,  Agency  for,  es- 
tablished, 148. 

Foreign  languages,  number  of,  Society 
printed  Bibles  in  (1816-32),  97; 
Scriptures  in,  circulated  (1816- 
1841),  162;  Scriptures  printed  in, 
or  aided  in  printing  by  Society  by 
end  of  1841,  166:  books  sent  out 
in,  by  Mr.  Calhoun's  Agency,  232; 
Bible  distribution  in,  during  Civil 
War  period,  327;  Bible  read  in 
twenty-seven  different,  373;  Bibles 
in,  kept  in  Society's  depository, 
464-465;  list  of,  in  which  Scrip- 
tures are  translated,  562-564. 


S88 


INDEX 


Foreign  languages  and  dialects,  Scrip- 
tures in,  mentioned:  Albanian,  232; 
Arabic,  149,  233,  235,  316,  329; 
Arapahoe,  447;  Arawack,  223; 
Armeno-Turkish,  135,  149,  227, 
231,  23s,  360,  425;  Azerbaijan 
Turkish,  363;  Benga,  366,  447; 
Bicol,  507;  Bulgarian,  327,  329, 
360,  425,  428;  Bulu,  447;  Burmese, 
109;  Cambodian,  490;  Canton,  493, 
497;  Cebuan,  507;  Chamorro,  448; 
Cherokee,  135,  200,  329,  366; 
Chickasaw,  366;  Chihuahua,  301; 
Chinese,  102,  132,  135,  166,  242— 
244,  310;  Choctaw,  135,  200; 
Creolese,  329;  Dakota,  200,  329, 
359>  366;  Danish,  126;  Delaware, 
51,  135,  167,  366;  Dutch,  126,  314; 
Esthonian,  213,  299,  380;  Foochow, 
310,  493;  French,  51,  59,  232; 
Gaelic,  51;  German,  51,  126,  230, 
231,  232;  Gilbert  Islands,  362,  447; 
Grebe,  135,  166,  241;  Hawaiian, 
102,  106,  135,  166,  238,  329;  He- 
brew-Spanish, 135,  151,  235,  360, 
425;  Hindi,  239,  308;  Hindustani, 
135;  Hinghua,  497;  Ibanag,  508; 
Ifugao,  508;  Igorrote,  508;  Ilocano, 
507;  Italian,  126,  232;  Japanese, 
314,  359-360,  361,  482-489; 
Korean,  360,  418;  Kurdish,  363, 
424;  Laos,  360,  490;  Mandarin,  311, 
360,  497;  Marathi,  106,  167,  308; 
Marshall  Islands,  362;  Modern 
Greek,  104,  149,  235;  Mohawk,  106, 
135,  200;  Mongolian,  144;  Moro, 
508;  Moro  Lanao,  508;  Mortlock 
Islands,  362;  Mpongwe,  242,  366, 
447;  Muskokee,  366,  447;  Nauru, 
447;  Navaho,  447;  Nez  Perces,  366; 
Ojibwa,  106,  135,  200,  366;  Pam- 
pangan,  507;  Panaj'an,  507,  509; 
Pangasinan,  507;  Persian,  232; 
Ponape,  362;  Portuguese,  76,  126, 
155,  360;  Punjabi,  239,  308;  Que- 
chua,  58,  76,  476,  477;  Samareno, 
508;  Sam  Kiong,  497;  Seneca, 
135;  Shanghai,  497;  Shantung,  497; 
Sheetswa,  362,  447;  Siamese,  135, 
240,  490,  492;  Soochow,  497;  Span- 
ish, 51,  56,  57.  59,  76,  126,  379; 
Swedish,  126;  Syriac,  156,  232, 
235;  Tagalog,  507;  Tamil,  102,  106, 
135.  238,  239,  308;  Telugu,  135, 
308,  363;  Tonga,  362,  447;  Turk- 
ish, 13s,  360,  425-426;  Urdu,  239, 
308;  Uriya,  135,  308;  Welsh,   126; 


Zambal,  507;  Zapotec,  473;  Zulu, 
129,  242,  316,  362,  366,  447. 

Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  forma- 
tion of,  450. 

Foreign  Versions  fostered  by  Society, 
562-564. 

Formosa,  colporteurs  sent  to,  493. 

Forrester,  Hiram  M.,  Vice-President, 
352. 

Foster,  Lafayette  S.,  Vice-President, 
351. 

Foulke,  William,  Treasurer  of  So- 
ciety, 356;  assumes  Mr.  Rowe's  du- 
ties, 441. 

Fox,  Rev.  Dr.  John,  elected  Corre- 
sponding Secretary,  442;  men- 
tioned, 449;  sent  as  Society's  dele- 
gate to  Shanghai  Conference  of 
1907,  497. 

France,  distribution  in,  144,  209—211, 
299,  526;  difficulty  of  distribution 
in,  384-385. 

Freedmen's  Bureau,  effort  to  care  for 
negroes  through,  282. 

Frelinghuysen,  Frederick  T.,  men- 
tioned, 291;  election  of,  as  Presi- 
dent, and  death  of,  349. 

Frelinghuysen,  Theodore,  copy  of  ad- 
dress of,  placed  in  cornerstone  of 
Bible  House,  193;  elected  President 
in  1846,  196;  quoted,  215;  attitude 
toward  South  during  Civil  War, 
259;  death  of,  265-266;  honours 
paid  to  memory  of,  266;  age  at 
death,  269. 

French,  Rev.  Dr.  George,  Field  Agent, 
458. 

French  Bible  printed  by  American 
Bible  Society,  51. 

French  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 
formed,  58;  money  sent  to,  by  So- 
ciety for  immigrants  sailing  from 
Havre,  126;  aided  by  Society 
(1848-1850),  209-211;  mentioned, 
214,  299. 

French  Protestant  Bible  Society, 
mentioned,    299. 

Fuchow,   Scriptures  printed  in,  366. 

"  Fukien  or  Gospel  Printing  Com- 
pany "  of  Yokohama,  489. 

Fuller,  Chief-Justice,  signs  appeal  for 
contributions,   528. 

Fulton  County  Auxiliary  Society,  work 
of  one  member  of,  206-207. 


INDEX 


589 


Fyson,  Rev.  P.  K.,  work  of,  on  trans- 
lation of  Japanese  version,  361. 


Gaboon  Mission  in  Africa,  315. 

Gaelic  Bible,  imported  by  American 
Bible  Society,  51. 

Galitzin,  Prince,   quoted,  34. 

Galusha,  Jonas,  Vice-President,  29. 

Gammell,  Dr.  W.,  Vice-President,  351. 

Gammon,  Charles  F.,  Sub-Agent  in 
China  and  gn^ide  of  allied  troops, 
496;  assists  Agent  in  China,  501. 

Garden  Street  Dutch  Reformed 
Church,   21. 

Garretson,  Freeborn,  death  of,  288. 

Gaston,  William,  Vice-President,  30. 

Gatrell,  Dr.  T.  J.  N.,  mentioned,  495. 

General  Agents  of  Society,  555. 

General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  note  of  appreciation  and 
good  will  of,  33. 

General  Supply  of  Bibles  to  destitute, 
in  United  States,  first  (1829),  86; 
second  (1856),  198;  third  (1866), 
293,  368,  369;  fourth  (1882),  344- 
345.  Z12-ZT7\  in  the  world,  113; 
special  gifts  for,  88. 

Geneva  Evangelical  Society,  grants  of 
money  to,   385,    526. 

Geneva  Italian  Committee,  money 
granted  to,  305. 

Germans,  Bibles  distributed  among, 
resident  in  southern  Russia,  Wal- 
lachia,  and  Moldavia,  230. 

German  Scriptures,  printed  by  Society, 
51,  126,  199;  money  granted  for 
printing  of,  298. 

Germany,  expressions  of  good-will 
from,  34;  circulation  of  Bible  in, 
through  aid  of  American  Society, 
211-212,  525. 

Gifford,  Andrew,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29. 

Gilbert  Islands,  translation  of  Bible 
into  language  of,  362;  converts 
from,  436;  story  of  translation  of 
Bible  for,  448-449. 

Gilman,  Dr.  Daniel  Coit,  elected  Presi- 
dent of  Society,  442;  death  of,  443. 

Gilman,  Rev.  Edward  W.,  Secretary 
of  Society,  355,  381;  death  of,  441; 
address  of,  at  Missionary  Confer- 
ence, 449. 


Goble,  Rev.  J.,  translator  of  Scrip- 
tures into  Japanese,  3O1,  412. 

Golubeff,  Russian  colporteur,  381. 

Goodell,  Rev.  William,  translator  of 
Bible  into  Armeno-Turkish,  65,  167; 
missionary  at  Constantinople,  158, 
159,  22T,  228,  229,  2Z\-2Z2\  on 
relation  of  Bible  to  work  of  mis- 
sionaries in  the  Levant,  229;  men- 
tioned, 425. 

Goodrich,  Grant,  Vice-President,  351. 

Goodrich,  Rev.  J.  C,  appointed  Agent 
in  Manila,  506,  508. 

Gordon,  Mr.,  colporteur  in  China,  404. 

Gore,  Dr.  Arthur,  Agent  in  Mexico, 
395. 

Gosman,  George,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29. 

Grant,  Dr.,  appeal  of,  for  Syriac 
Scriptures,  156. 

Grant,  President  U.  S.,  presentation  of 
Bible  to,  291;  quoted,  375. 

Grants,  table  of  early,  made  by  So- 
ciety, 540. 

Gray,  William,  Vice-President,  29. 

Grebo  language,  Gospel  of  John  trans- 
lated into,  241. 

Greece,  Scriptures  distributed  in,  144, 
227;  withdrawal  of  Society  from, 
345. 

Greeks  in  Turkey,  opposition  to  distri- 
bution  among,   427. 

Greek  Testament,  printed  1833,  132. 

Green,  Dr.,  missionary  to  Sandwich 
Islands,   131. 

Greene,  Rev.  Dr.  D.  C,  quoted,  358; 
translator  of   Scriptures,   361. 

Greene,  Rev.  Frederick  D.,  Financial 
Agent,  458. 

Griffin,  George,  quoted,  10;  address  by, 
30. 

Griscom,  John,  member  of  first  Con- 
vention, 22\  death  of,  196. 

Grundy,  Felix,  Vice-President,  30. 

Guarapuava,  distribution  in,  435. 

Guatemala,   mentioned,   22-^. 

Gugin,  Mr.,  colporteur  in  Manila,  508. 

Guicciardini,  Count,  mentioned,  212. 

Gulick,  Rev.  Luther  IL,  Agent  for 
China  and  Japan,  312,  401,  403, 
40s,  408-409,  411,  412. 

Gulick,  Rev.  Thomas  L.,  investigations 
of,  in  Cuba,  389. 

Gulick,  Rev.  W.  II.,  distribution  by, 
in  Central  America,  304;  quoted, 
387. 

Gundert,  Dr.,  quoted,  358. 


590 


INDEX 


Gutzlaff,  Rev.  Dr.  Charles,  quoted  on 
need  of  Bibles  in  China,  112,  124; 
translation  into  Japanese  attempted 
by,  313. 


H 


Hall,  Rev.  H.  C,  missionary  in  Se- 
ville, 306. 

Hall,  Rev.  Sherman,  New  Testament 
translated  into  Ojibwa  by,  200. 

Hallock,  Rev.  Dr.,  mentioned,  79. 

Hallock,  Mr.,  matrices  of  Arabic  let- 
ters made  by,  330. 

Halsey,  Rev.  L.  H.,  contribution  from, 
96. 

Hamburg  and  Altona  Bible  Society, 
extract  from  letter  from,  34;  re- 
sults of  postage  due  on  letter  from, 
64. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  statue  of,  98. 

Hamilton,  Rev.  Hiram  P.,  Agent  in 
Mexico,   395;   death  of,  472. 

Hamilton,  Mrs.  Hiram  P.,  appointed 
Agent    in   Mexico,   472;    death    of, 

473. 

Hankow,  Sub-Agency  in,  500. 

Harlan,  Justice,  signs  appeal  for  con- 
tributions, 528. 

Harrison,  Benjamin,  death  of,  443; 
honorary  chairman  of  Missionary 
Conference,  449. 

Hasbrouck,  Abraham  B.,  Vice-Presi- 
dent, 351. 

Hatcher,    Mr.,    Agent    in    Tennessee, 

179. 

Havana,  Cuba,  gift  of  Archdiocese  of, 
T]\  Scriptures  sent  to,  144. 

Haven,  H.  P.,  Vice-President,  350. 

Haven,  Rev.  Dr.  William  I.,  elected 
Corresponding  Secretary,  442 ; 
mentioned,  449,  472;  visit  of,  to 
Missionary  Conference  in  Edin- 
burgh, 480. 

Hawaiian  Bible,  printed,  103,  106; 
presented  to   Society,   162. 

Hawaiian  Missionary  Society,  print- 
ing press  given  to  Mr.  Delaporte 
by,  447-448. 

Hawaiian  Testament  printed  at  Bible 
House,  199. 

Hay,  Rev.  Dr.,  revision  of  Telugus 
version  by,  363. 

Hayes,  Rutherford  B.,  death  of,  443. 

Hayter,  Rev.  James,  appointed  Agent 
for  Central  America,  479. 


Hayti,  work  of  American  Bible  So- 
ciety in,  218-219;  checked  by  Ro- 
man Catholics,  219. 

Hebrew-Spanish    Bible,    360,    425. 

Henderson,  Rev.  Dr.,  Field  Agent, 
458. 

Hendrickson,  Rev.  W.  H.,  Eastern 
Agency  Secretary,  463. 

Henry,  Alexander,  death  of,  196. 

Henshaw,  Mr.,  delegate  to  first  Con- 
vention American  Bible  Society, 
22. 

Hepburn,  Dr.  J.  C,  one  of  first  mis- 
sionaries to  Japan,  313;  at  Yoko- 
hama, 314;  translator  of  Scripture, 
361;  "Jewelled  Order  of  the  Ris- 
ing Sun  "  presented  to,  by  Emperor 
of  Japan,  488. 

Herr,  Rev.  W.,  retirement  of,  as  Dis- 
trict Superintendent,  370. 

Herrick,  Rev.  Dr.  George  F.,  member 
of  Committee  on  Revision  of 
Turkish  version,  426. 

Heyer,  Cornelius,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29. 

Heye,  Miss,  grants  to,  from  Society, 
383. 

Hickey,  Rev.  James,  Agent  in  Mexico, 
299;  mentioned,  393. 

Hicks,  Mr.  F.,  missionary  in  Panama, 
304. 

High  Wenli  Version,  work  on  revision 
of,  361,  497. 

Hinghua   Colloquial   Version,  497. 

Hirst,  Rev.  Godfrey,  Sub-Agent  in 
China,  500. 

Hobart,  Bishop,  controversy  of,  with 
Dr.  Mason,  36. 

Hodge,  Rev.  Dr.  Charles,  Jubilee  ser- 
mon by,  319. 

Hogg,  Rev.  Dr.,  missionary  in  Egypt, 
422. 

Holden,  Rev.  R.,  missionary  in  Para, 
224,  304. 

Holdich,  Rev,  Dr.  Joseph,  Secretary  of 
Society,  197,  290,  332,  355. 

Holland  Bibles  sent  to  Japanese,  314. 

Holmes,  Rev.  Sylvester,  mentioned, 
126. 

Home  Agencies,  establishment  of,  450; 
secretaries  of,  460-463;  distribution 
in  foreign  languages  by,  465;  num- 
ber of  volumes  distributed  by,  in 
1916,  469. 

Home  Mission  work  first  undertaken 
by  American  Bible   Society,   55-58, 

Honolulu,  Scriptures  printed  in,  309. 


INDEX 


591 


Hooker,  Rev.  W.  C,  Sub-Agent  in 
China,  501. 

Hopkins,  Mark,  quoted,  165;  benedic- 
tion pronounced  by,  at  Jubilee,  323. 

Hornblower,  Joseph  C,  delegate  to 
first  Convention  American  Bible 
Society,  22;  death  of,  287. 

Horton,  Rev.  J.  F.,  Northwestern 
Agency  Secretary,  461;  resigns, 
463. 

Hotels,  supplying  of  Bibles  to  (1846), 
201. 

Howard,  Maj.  Gen.  O.  O.,  address  by, 
at  Jubilee,  322;  death  of,  443. 

Howe,  Dr.  Samuel  G.,  prepares  New 
Testament  for  the  blind,  156;  men- 
tioned,  524. 

Howland,  Rev.  John,  member  of  Com- 
mittee on  Revision  of  Spanish  Ver- 
sion, 480. 

Hughes,  Rev.  Joseph,  establishment  of 
Bible  Societies  due  to,  8;  men- 
tioned,   453. 

Huguenots,  attempt  to  found  colony 
of,  at  Rio  Janeiro,  223. 

Hunan,  distribution  in,  404. 

Hungary,  distribution  in,  231. 

Hunt,  Rev.  Dr.  Albert  S.,  Secretary  of 
Society,  356;  death  of,  440. 

Hunterdon  County  (N.  J.)  Auxiliary, 
mentioned,   457. 

Hyde,  Joseph,  elected  General  Agent, 
121. 

Hykes,  Rev.  Dr.  John  R.,  appointed 
Agent  for  China,  493;  mentioned, 
494,  500,  501,  502;  quoted  on  Phil- 
ippines, 503-505. 


countered  by  missionaries  in,  236- 
237;  sway  of  Brahmins  in,  237; 
progress  of  missionaries,  237-238; 
amount  of  grants  of  money  for 
Bibles  by  Bible  Society,  238;  Sepoy 
mutiny  in,  239-240;  Scriptures 
published  in  languages  of,  308. 

Indiana  Bible  Society,  formed,  12. 

Indian  languages,  Bible  printed  in,  51- 
52,  135,  IQ9-200,  32Q,  366,  447. 

Indians,  Bibles  sent  to  Canadian,  97; 
benefited  by  dissemination  of  Bible, 
200;  local  Bible  Societies  among, 
200;    distribution    among,    277. 

Information,  literature  of,  prepared 
and  distributed  by  Secretaries  of 
Society,  446. 

Ingersoll,  Rev.  Dr.  E.  P.,  elected  Cor- 
responding Secretary,  442;  death 
of,  442;  representative  of  Society 
at  Centenary  meeting  in  London, 
450. 

Innsbruck,  American  mission  at,  383. 

Irwin,  Rev.  Robert,  Assistant  Agent, 
and  Agent  in  Siam,  492. 

Italian  Bible  Society  in  Rome,  New 
Testaments  printed  by,  387. 

Italians,   work  among,  in   Illinois,  461. 

Italian  version  of  Bible,  ordered  for 
immigrants,  126. 

Italy,  distribution  among  Sicilians  in, 
212;  in  Northern,  213;  grants  of 
money  for  distribution  in,  305,  526; 
difficulty  of  distribution  in,  387, 
388. 

Ito,  Baron,  recommends  Bible  to 
Mikado,  414. 


Illinois  Bible  Societies,  distribution  by, 
176. 

Illinois   Bible   Society,   formed,    12. 

Immigrants,  Auxiliary  Societies  at 
points  of  landing  of,  126;  Bibles 
supplied  to,  188—190;  Bibles  printed 
for,  with  English  translation,  189. 

Imperial  Bible  Society  of  Russia,  men- 
tioned, 381,  525. 

Incas,  Bible  translated  into  language 
of,   58. 

Independent  Church  in  Philippines, 
509. 

India,  first  missionaries  to,  11;  Society 
assists  missionaries  to  print  Bible 
in,  60,  308;  distribution  in.  144, 
236,    399-400,    527;    difficulties   en- 


Jackson,   General   Andrew,    11,    175. 

Jackson,  General  *'  Stonewall,"  a  col- 
lector for  the  Society,  250. 

Jackson,   F.  Wolcott,  death  of,  444. 

Jacobi,  Rev.  Dr.,  missionary,  quoted, 
298;  retirement  of,  382. 

Jaffna  Bible   Society,  238. 

Jalapa,  distribution  in  220. 

James,  Capt.,  work  of,  in  Japan,  414. 

Janes,  Rev.  Dr.  E.  S.,  appointed 
Financial  Secretary,  121;  finances 
improved  through  encouragement 
of,  155;  elected  Bishop  of  M.  E. 
Church,  195. 

Japan,  first  American  Missionaries 
sent  to,  313;  work  of  distribution 
in,  313-315.  412-417;  opposition  to 


592 


INDEX 


distribution  in,  412;  printing  Scrip- 
tures and  distribution  in,  by  Gen- 
eral Committee,  417,  483;  division 
of  field  in,  484;  distribution 
at  time  of  war  with  Russia,  487; 
circulation  among  students  in,  488. 

Japanese,  Holland  Bibles  sent  to,  314. 

Japanese  ambassadors'  visit  to  Bible 
House,  313-314. 

Japanese  Version  of  Scriptures,  313, 
314-315.  360,  411;  revision  of,  by 
Committee,   489. 

Japan  Evangelical  Alliance,  proposal 
of,  for  revision  of  Japanese  Ver- 
sion, 489. 

Java,  Bibles  sent  to,  112,  144. 

Jay,  John,  Vice-President,  29,  66; 
elected  President,  71;  resignation 
of,  as  President,  ^z;  quoted  on 
divine  origin  of  Bible  Society 
movement,  72;  influence  of,  74; 
statue  of,  98;  age  of,  at  death, 
269. 

Jay,  William,  delegate  to  first  Con- 
vention, American  Bible  Society, 
23;  member  of  Committee  on 
Constitution,  25;  address  by,  30; 
quoted  on  controversy  concern- 
ing American   Bible   Society,   37. 

Jenkins,  Rev.  Dr.,  member  of  Com- 
mittee on  Chinese  Bible  transla- 
tion,   310. 

Jessup,  Rev.  Dr.  H.  H.,  missionary 
in  Syria,   527. 

Jesuits,  destruction  of  Bibles  by 
member  of,  in  Clinton  County, 
N.  Y.,  203. 

Johnson,  William,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,    29. 

Jones,  Rev.  David,  member  of  Com- 
mittee   on    Constitution,    25. 

Jones,    William,    Vice-President,    29. 

Jordan,  Rev.  W.  F.,  undertakes 
Mexican  Agency,  473. 

Jubilee  celebration  of  1866,  318-323; 
foreign  representatives  to,  320; 
sermons  preached  at,  319,  320. 


K 


Kemper,  Bishop,  missionary  to  In- 
dians, 200. 

Kenmure,  Rev.  Alexander,  Agent  in 
Korea,    485. 

Kennedy,  John  S.,  large  gift  from, 
528. 


Kentucky  Bible  Society  at  Lexington, 
reorganised,    12;    request   of,    leads 
to   statement   of   relation  of   Auxil- 
iaries    to     National     Society,     43 
mentioned,   49. 

Key,  Francis  S.,  connection  with 
American  Colonisation  Society,   ^j, 

Kidder,  Rev.  D.  P.,  Methodist  mis 
sionary  to  Brazil,   224. 

Kimber,  Rev.  J.,  delegate  to  seventy 
fifth    anniversary,    431. 

King,  Rev,  Jonas,  Scriptures  distrib 
uted  by,  104,  132;  address  by 
at  Jubilee,  323. 

King,  Rufus,  on  first  Board  of  Man 
agers,  29. 

King  James  Version  of  the  Bible 
three  hundredth  anniversary  of 
the    publication    of,    450. 

Kirk,  Rev.  Mr.,  210. 

Kirkbride,  Rev.  Dr.  S.  H.,  Western 
Agency  Secretary,  461;  trans- 
ferred    to     Northwestern     Agency, 

Kirkpatrick,    Andrew,    death   of,   99. 

Kiukiang,    Sub-Agency    in,    500. 

Koran,   printing  of,   in   India,   240. 

Korea,  missionaries  sent  to,  418; 
breadless,  447;  religious  restric- 
tions removed  in,  482;  Scriptures 
translated  for,  482. 

Korean  Version,  of  Gospels,  360,  418; 
of  New  Testament,  485;  of  Old 
Testament,   486. 

Kurdish  Version  of  New  Testament, 
363. 


Labaree,    Rev.    Benjamin,    Azerbaijan 

Turkish    translation    by,    363. 
Labrador,   Bibles  sent  to,    112. 
Lallave,     M.     Alonzo,     colporteur     in 

Manila,    504,    505;    translation    by, 

507. 
Lambdin,    Mr.,   Bibles   distributed   by, 

376. 
Lambert,     William     G.,     member     of 

Finance    Committee,    353. 
Landes,     Rev.     G.     A.,    work    of,     in 

Guarapuava,   435. 
Lane,  George  W.,  member  of  Finance 

Committee,   353. 
Langdon,    John,    Vice-President,    29. 
Laos  language,  translation  of  Matthew 

in,   360. 


INDEX 


593 


La  Plata  Agency  of  Bible  Society, 
beginning  of,  296;  territory  of, 
470. 

Latin  America,  Bibles  sold  in  (1826), 
78;  cosmopolitan  character  of 
work  in,  81;  progress  of  work  of 
Society  in,  217-225,  299-305;  ex- 
penditures in,  299,  302-305. 

Law,  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  H.,  Field 
Agent,   457. 

Lawrence,  Mr.,  Agent  of  the  Trini- 
tarian  Bible   Society,   387. 

Leamington,  Rev.  Robert,  work  of, 
in   Guarapuava,   435. 

Leavens,   Rev.   P.    F.,  quoted,   534. 

Lenox,  James,  elected  President  of 
Bible  Society,  269;  presides  at 
Jubilee  celebration,  320;  resigna- 
tion and  death  of,  348. 

Leo,  Rev.  Ferdinand,  edition  of  De 
Sacy  version   by,    58. 

Levant,  opposition  to  distribution  in 
the,  316;  colporteurs  in,  425; 
hindrances  to  work  in,  in  recent 
years,  512-516,  518-519;  comple- 
tion of  seventy-five  years  of  work 
in,   516;   circulation  in,   516,   520. 

Levings,  Rev.  Dr.  Noah,  elected 
Financial  Secretary,    195. 

Lexington,  S.  C,  Auxiliary,  set 
of  resolutions  received  from, 
285. 

Libby  Prison,  Bibles  at,  264.  . 

Life    Directors,    distribution    by,    173. 

Life    members,    distribution   by,    173. 

Liggins,  Rev.  Mr.,  one  of  first  mis- 
sionaries   to    Japan,    313. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  Bible,  3;  resolu- 
tion of  grief  passed  upon  death  of, 
290-291. 

Lincoln,    Heman,    death   of,    288. 

Lodiana,  Scriptures  printed  in,  366. 

Logan,  Rev.  Mr.,  Mortlock  Island 
translation  by,  362. 

London     Missionary     Society,    formed 

(1795).   7- 
London       Religious      Tract       Society, 

formed    (i799).    7- 
Long,    Rev.    Dr.    A.    L.,   work   of,    on 

Bulgarian  Version,  360. 
Long,    Rev.    W.    R.,   retirement  of,   as 

District    Superintendent,    370. 
Long      Island      Bible      Society,     men- 
tioned,   340. 
Loomis,  Rev.   Henry,  Agent  in  Japan, 

408,   416,   417,  419,   482,  483,   487; 

retires,   488. 


Louisiana     Auxiliary     Bible     Society, 

work  of  distribution  by,  in  Spanish 

provinces  (1817),  56. 
Louisville     Bible     Society,    quoted    on 

distribution      of      Bibles      to      both 

armies  in  Civil   War,  292. 
Lucknow,   Scriptures  printed  in,  366. 
Lumpkin,   J.   H.,   death   of,   288. 
Lund,      Rev.      Eric,      translation      for 

Philippines  by,   507,   509. 
Lyman,  Mr.,  missionary  to  Java,   112. 
Lynch,  Mr.,  Bibles  sold  by,  in  Peru, 

76. 


M 


Macao,  mission  station  in  China,  242. 

McAuley,  Rev.  Thomas,  elected  a 
secretary  for  Domestic  Correspond- 
ence,  99;   mentioned,    113. 

McCarty,  Peter,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,    29. 

McCiay,  Rev.  Dr.,  member  of  com- 
mittee on  Chinese  Bible  transla- 
tion, 310. 

Maclay,  Rev.  R.  S.,  translator  of 
Scriptures,    361. 

MacDowell,  Rev.  Dr.  John,  delegate 
to  first  Convention  American  Bible 
Society,  23;  death  of,  287. 

McGehee,  Edward,  \'ice-President,  351. 

McKean,  James  B.,  Vice-President, 
351- 

McKim,  Rev.  A.  J.,  Society's  Agent  in 
Cuba,    389. 

McLaughlin,  Rev.  J.  L.,  appointed 
Agent    in    Manila,    509. 

McLean,  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander,  Secre- 
tary of  Society,  355,  431;  death  of, 
440. 

McLean,  John,  Vice-President,  196; 
death   of,   287. 

McNeill,  Rev.  James  H.,  elected 
Secretary,  197;  resigned  to  go  with 
South  in  Civil  War,  256;  death  of, 
256   n. 

Madison,  George,  Vice-President,  29. 

Maine  Bible  Society,  Centennial  of, 
457. 

Malta,  American  Mission  Press  at, 
227. 

Mandarin  Version,  311;  work  on 
revision   of,   361,   497. 

Maracaibo,  Spanish  Bibles  sent  to, 
76. 

Marathi  Bible,  new  edition  aided, 
106;     effect     of     translation     upon 


594 


INDEX 


Jews,  167;  work  of  American 
missionaries   upon,    240. 

Marine    Bible    Societies,   93. 

Marshall,  John,  elected  Vice-Presi- 
dent,   99. 

Marshall  Islands,  translation  of  Bible 
into   language  of,   362. 

Marshman,  Rev.  Mr.,  work  at  Seram- 
pore,  59. 

Marsovan,  result  of  tract  sent  to,  228. 

Martin,  Rev.  Dr.,  missionary  in 
China,   312. 

Maryland,   destitution  in,   63. 

Mason,  Rev.  Dr.  John  M.,  at  first 
Convention,  24;  member  of  Com- 
mittee on  Constitution,  25;  address 
of,  to  people  of  United  States, 
quoted,  27-29,  531;  elected  sec- 
retary for  Foreign  Correspondence, 
30;  mentioned,  32;  controversy  of, 
with  Bishop  Hobart,  36;  resigna- 
tion of,  as  Secretary  for  Foreign 
Correspondence,   66. 

Massachusetts  Bible  Society,  organ- 
ised, 9;  mentioned,  108,  340;  con- 
tribution of,  toward  New  Testa- 
ment for  blind,  156;  distribution 
by,  175;  Bibles  given  to  soldiers 
and  sailors  in  Civil  War  by,  272; 
Centennial   of,   457. 

Massachusetts  Missionary  Society,  es- 
tablished, 7;  appoints  missionary  to 
explore  West  and  Southwest,  11; 
undertakes   second   tour,    12-13. 

Massachusetts  Society  for  Promotion 
of  Christian  Knowledge  among  In- 
dians,   established,    7. 

Matamoras,  Spanish  Bibles  sold  in,  77. 

Matsuyama,  Mr.,  assistant  in  trans- 
lating Japanese   version,   361. 

Matthews,  Rev.  Dr.,  pastor  Garden 
Street  Dutch  Reformed  Church 
(1816),  21. 

Maxwell,  William,  quoted,  76. 

Maybin,  Joseph  A.,  Vice-President, 
350. 

Mayhew,  Mr.,  Agent  in  Indiana,  179. 

Maynard,  Horace,  Vice-President,  351. 

Mayor  of  New  York  City,  host  of 
Board  of  Managers,  34. 

Mell,  Rev.  A.  Wesley,  Pacific  Agency 
Secretary,    463. 

Melville,  Mr.,  Agent  of  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  at  Odessa, 
231. 

Memminger,     C.     C,     Vice-President, 

351. 


Memphis  and  Shelby  County  (Tenn.) 
Auxiliary,  distribution  to  soldiers 
by,   264. 

Mesopotamia,  distribution  in,  232-233, 
423- 

Methodist  Bible  and  Tract  Society, 
dissolution    of,    recommended,    121. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Missions,  grants 
of  money  to,  in  Norway,  297;  in 
Germany,  211,  212,  298;  in  Brazil, 
224. 

Mexican  War,  Bibles  distributed 
during,  176,  183;  creates  new  re- 
sponsibilities,   182. 

Mexico,  Scriptures  distributed  in,  79,- 
144,  184,  220,  299,  301,  472,  473; 
Mr.  Rickey's  work  in,  299-300; 
Agencies  in,  394,  395;  Society  es- 
tablished in,  470. 

Mexico  City,  Spanish  Bibles  sold  in, 
77- 

Micronesia,  work  in,  309,  328,  329; 
work  of  translation  in,  362;  men- 
tioned,  447. 

Miller,  Rev.  G.  A.,  Pacific  Agency 
Secretary,  462. 

Miller,  Rev.  George  A.,  work  of,  in 
Philippines,    509. 

Miller,  Hugh,  appointed  Agent  in 
Korea,   485. 

Mills,  Rev.  Mr.,  Missionary  in  Tung- 
chow,  311. 

Mills,  Samuel,  constitution  of  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society  drafted 
by,    II. 

Mills,  Samuel  J.,  student  at  Williams 
College,  10;  missionary  explora- 
tion of  West  by,  1 1 ;  second  west- 
ern tour  of,  13;  quoted,  14-15;  at 
first  Convention,  24;  mentioned, 
59;  last  labours  and  death  of,  73. 

Milne,  Andrew,  Agent  in  South 
America,  302,  390,  391,  396,  398, 
475;  effects  of  forty  years  of  serv- 
ice  of,    476;   death    of,    477. 

Milne,  Rev.  Dr.,  one  of  translators  of 
Bible  into  Chinese,   102. 

Milnor,  Rev.  Dr.  James,  elected 
Secretary  for  Domestic  Corre- 
spondence, 65-66;  presents  resolu- 
tions to  relieve  destitute,  86;  men- 
tioned, 120,  162,  355;  resolutions 
written  by,  141;  death  of,  195. 

M'llvaine,  Bishop  C.  P.,  tribute  of, 
to  Dr.  Spring,  321. 

Ministers,  list  of,  who  have  served  on 
Society's    Committees,    556-558. 


INDEX 


595 


Mobile  Auxiliary,  grant  made  to,  264. 

Mohammedan,  gift  from  a,  to  be  used 
in  giving  the  Bible  to  freedmen, 
284. 

Mohammedanism,  characteristics  of  re- 
ligion of,  226. 

Mohammedans,  interest  in  Bible 
awakened  among,  234,  235;  Koran 
printed  for,  in  India,  to  offset 
Bible  translations,  240;  interest  in 
Christianity  of,  429;  important 
work  to  be  done  among,   518,   527. 

Mongolian,  Old  Testament  printed  in, 
144. 

Monod,  Rev.  Dr.  F.,  Secretary  of 
French  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 
211,  214, 

Monroe  County  Bible  Society,  statis- 
tics of  local  needs  made,  85. 

Montevideo,  Mr.  Milne's  field  in,  390. 

Montsalvatge,  Ramon,  Agent  of  the 
Society  for  Spanish  South  America, 

221-222. 

Moore,  Bishop,  letter  from,  on  world 
supply,    113. 

Morgan,  Rev.  J.  J.,  Southwestern 
Agency  Secretary,  463. 

Mormons,  Bible  distribution  among, 
177;  encouragement  by,  375. 

Morris,  Rev.  M.  N.,  report  of  investi- 
gation of   Society  made  by,  333. 

Morrison,  Rev.  Dr.,  translation  of 
Bible  into  Chinese  by,  102,  242, 
243.   536. 

Morse,  Rev.  Dr.  Jedidiah,  delegate  to 
first  Convention  American  Bible 
Society,  22;  member  of  Committee 
on    Constitution,    25. 

Mortlock  Islanders,  translation  of 
Bible  into  language  of,  362. 

Mosquera,  Don  Joaquin,  elected  Vice- 
President   of    Society,    81. 

Mosser,  Rev.  J.,  370;  retirement  of, 
as    District    Superintendent,    370. 

Mott,  Dr.  Valentine,  delegate  to  first 
Convention  American  Bible  So- 
ciety, 22;  death  of,  287. 

Moyes,  Rev.  James,  Sub-Agent  in 
China,    500. 

Mpongwe  language,  printing  of  Gos- 
pel of  John  in,  242;  New  Testament 
printed  in,  315;  Scriptures  printed 
in,   366,  403. 

Munson,  Rev.  Mr.,  missionary  to  Java, 
112. 

Murray,  John,  Jr.,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,   29. 


Muruoka,    Mr.,    founder    of    "  Fukien 

or    Gospel    Printing   Company "   of 

Yokohama,    489. 
Myers,     Rev,     II.     V,     S.,     Agent     in 

charge  in  China  during  Dr.  Hykes' 

absence,    501. 


N 


Nanking,    Sub-Agency  in,   500. 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  Bible  Society, 
formed,    12;    mentioned,    175. 

Natal,  translations  of  Bible  made  by 
missionaries    in,    316. 

Natchez  Bible  Society  formed,  12; 
Bibles  supplied  to  immigrants,  126. 

Nauru   version,   448. 

Neesima,  Joseph,  Japanese  educator, 
415,  536. 

Negroes.     See    Coloured   people. 

Nesbit,    R.,    Agent    at    Para,    224. 

New  Granada,  opportunities  for  dis- 
tribution watched  for  in,  by  So- 
ciety, 304. 

New  Hampshire  Bible  Society,  dona- 
tion from,  to  American  Society,  88, 
175;  supplies  the  soldiers,  272; 
mentioned,  340;  Centennial  of,  457. 

New  Hampshire  Missionary  Society, 
established,   7. 

New    Jersey    Bible    societies,    178. 

New  Jersey  Bible  Society,  organised, 
9;  resolution  adopted  by  (1814), 
in  favour  of  a  General  Bible  So- 
ciety, 16;  new  proposal  of,  18; 
mentioned,    108. 

New  Orleans  Bible  Society,  formed, 
12,  176;  supplies  immigrants,  126; 
supplies  troops  passing  through  city 
(1845-47),    183. 

New  York  Auxiliary  Bible  Society, 
supplies  troops  passing  through 
city  (1845-47),  183;  mentioned, 
174,  189,  454;  Bibles  distributed  by, 
during  Civil  War,  273;  Scriptures 
supplied  to  army  and  navy  by,  292; 
aid  given  to,  by  Society,  341; 
auxiliary  relationship  terminated, 
457. 

New  York  Bible  Society,  organised, 
9;  explorers  furnished  by,  12;  ob- 
jects to  plan  of  General  Bible  So- 
ciety, 17;  becomes  an  Auxiliary, 
2,"^;  gift  of  stereotype  plates  to 
American  Bible  Society  by,  49; 
donation    sent    by,    to    missionaries 


596 


INDEX 


in  Serampore,  60;  coalescence  with 

Auxiliary  New  York  Bible  Society, 

93.     See   also  Young  Men's  N.   Y. 

Bible  Society. 
New    York   Female    Bible   Society,   92, 

93»  94.   95;  contribution  of,  toward 

New  Testament  for  the  blind,  156; 

Bible  given  by,  to  chapel  in  Tyrol, 

383. 
New  York  Historical   Society,  host  to 

Board  of  Managers,  34. 
New     York     Hospital,     governors     of, 

host  to   Board   of   Managers,   34. 
New   York  Marine   Bible   Society,   93; 

absorbed  by  Young  Men's  Society, 

94. 
New  York  Public  Library,  books  and 

manuscripts  of  Society  transferred 

to  custody  of,  445. 
Nicaragua,   Agent   of   American   Bible 

Society  shot  in,  220-221. 
Nicoll,    Dr.    H.    D.,    death   of,  444. 
Nicomedia,  Bible   distribution  in,   228. 
Nitchie,   John,   chosen   General   Agent, 

67;  elected  Treasurer,    120. 
Nizam    of    Hyderabad,    territories    of, 

explored,  30.8. 
Nolan,     Rev.     Thomas,    representative 

of  British   Society  to  Jubilee,  320; 

Jubilee   address   by,    321. 
Norris,    Rev.    W.    H.,   Agent   for   Cen- 
tral America,  304;  appointed  special 

Agent  to  Santo  Domingo,  388. 
Norris,  Rev.  W.  H.,  Agent  to  Mexico, 

184,   220. 
North  Carolina,  Bibles  granted  to,  87. 
Northwestern  Agency,  mentioned,  460; 

circulation  in,  465. 
Norwood,      Rev.     Joseph,     Agent     in 

Venezuela,   399,   477-478,   479. 
Nott,    Rev.    Dr.    Eliphalet,    delegate   to 

first     Convention    American     Bible 

Society,  23 ;  member  of  Committee 

on    Constitution,    25;    address    by, 

30;    death   of,   287. 
Nourse,  Joseph,  Vice-President,  30. 


Ohio  State  Bible  Society,  formed,   12. 
Ojibwa    version    of    New    Testament, 

200. 
Okuma,  Count,  quoted  on  Bible,  488. 
Oliver,    Robert,    Vice-President,    30. 
Oncken,     Rev.     Dr.     J.     G.,     German 

Scriptures  distributed  by,  212,  383. 


O'Neal],    J.    B.,    death    of,    288. 
Oneida  County  Bible  Society  (N.  Y.) 

use  of  canal  boats  by,   124. 
Orange     County     (N.     Y.)     Auxiliary, 

mentioned,   109,  340,  457. 
Oregon,    new    field    for   work   in,    184 
Oregon    Auxiliary    Bible    Society,    or 

ganised,   188. 
Oregon    Indians,    missions    to,    estab 

lished,   188. 
Orient,  work  of  Bible  Society  in  the 

226-235. 
Ormiston,     Rev.    Dr.    William,    repre 

sentative  to  Jubilee,  320. 
Orr,   Alexander  E.,  death   of,   445. 
Ousley,    B.    F.,    translator    of    Tonga 

Version,  362. 
Owen,    John,     Secretary    British    and 

Foreign   Bible   Society    (1816),    35, 

36. 
Owhyee  (Hawaii),  Bibles  presented  to 

Kings  of,  59. 
Ozark  Mountains,  Bible  destitution  in, 

466. 


Pacific    Agency,    organised,    462;    cir- 
culation in,   465. 
Pacific    Railroad,   effect   of  completion 

of,  on  work  of  Bible  Society,  289- 

290. 
Palmquist,  Rev.  Per,  work  in  Sweden 

of,  382. 
Panama,    distribution    on    Isthmus    of, 

220;    work    in    Canal    Zone    begun, 

480. 
Panayan,  version  in,   509. 
Panoplist,    The,    quotation    from,    5. 
Paraguay,  mentioned,  222',  Mr,  Milne's 

field  in,   390. 
Paris,  Scriptures  printed  in,  366. 
Parks,   Rev.   W.  A.,  retirement  of,  as 

District   Superintendent,    370. 
Parrot,    Mr.,    sells    Spanish    Bibles   in 

Mexico   City,   yy. 
Parsons,    Rev.    Levi,   early   missionary 

to  Turkey,  227. 
Parvin,     Mr.,    explorations    in     South 

America   by,    79. 
Pascal,   Rev.    Caesar,   representative   of 

French     Society    to    Jubilee,     320; 

Jubilee  address  by,  322. 
Patterson,   Rev.   Dr.  W.  M.,  Agent  in 

Venezuela,  398,  399. 


INDEX 


597 


Patton,  Rev.  Mr.,  quoted,  122. 

Pearce,  Mr.  E.  H.,  retirement  of,  370. 

Pearse,  Mr.,  sells  Spanish  Bibles  in 
Matamoras,  77. 

Pearse,  Rev.  Mr.,  Missionary  to  Cal- 
cutta, 139. 

Pearson,  Rev.  Dr.  John,  Field  Agent, 
458. 

Pease,  Rev.  E.  M.,  translator  of 
Scriptures  into  language  of  Mar- 
shall   Islands,    362. 

Peck,  Rev.  J.  O.,  delegate  to  seventy- 
fifth    Anniversary,   431. 

Peking,   Sub-Agency  in,   500. 

Pennsylvania  Bible  Society,  becomes 
an  Auxiliary,  121;  distribution  by, 
175;  notable  donations  by,  as  Jubi- 
lee offering,  283;  contribution  from, 
to  send  Testaments  and  Psalms  to 
New  Orleans,  291-292;  Centennial 
of,  457;  co-operation  of,  in  organi- 
sation of  Atlantic  Agency,  462. 

Penzotti,  Rev.  Francisco,  good  results 
from  unjust  imprisonment  of,  391; 
mentioned,  398,  479;  appointed 
Agent  in  Brazil,  477. 

Perit,    Peletiah,    death    of,    288. 

Perkins,  Rev.  Justin,  missionary  to 
Persia,    151. 

Permanent  Committee  on  the  Bible 
Cause,  appointed  by  General  As- 
sembly of  Presbyterian  Church  (in 
U.  S.),  458. 

Persia,  distribution  in,  227,  316;  work 
of  Society  in,  transferred  to  Brit- 
ish and  Foreign  Society,  480,  526; 
grants  to,  526. 

Peru,  work  among  Quechua  Indians 
in,  76;  mentioned,  tj,  79;  distribu- 
tion in,  303,  390;  restrictions  re- 
moved in,  475. 

Peshtimaljian's  Armenian  school,   228. 

Petersburg  Auxiliary  Society,  men- 
tioned,  113. 

Phelps,   George   D.,   death   of,    354. 

Phelps,  Myron  P.,  Vice-President, 
350. 

Philadelphia  Bible  Society,  organised, 
8;  explorers  furnished  by,  12; 
French  Testaments  sent  to  New 
Orleans  by,  13;  objects  to  plan  of 
General  Society,  17;  extract  from 
letter  to,  34;  terms  of  recognition 
of,  as  Auxiliary,  stated  by  Society, 
45;  attitude  of,  toward  becoming 
Auxiliary  to  American  Bible  So- 
ciety, 46;  Bibles  supplied  Pennsyl- 


vania by,  8s;  donation  from,  to 
American  Society,  88;  mentioned, 
108,    121;    sends    Bibles    to    Spain, 

174. 

Philippine  Islands,  Spanish  Bibles 
sent  to,  97;  distribution  in,  379, 
506,  509,  510;  Dr.  liykes'  report 
of,  503-505;  problems  of  transla- 
tion for,  507;  Scriptures  translated 
into  dialects  of,  507-508;  unique 
method   of  distribution,  510. 

Phillips,  Rev.  Mr.,  Agent  to  Oregon, 
188. 

Phillips,  Rev.  Thomas,  representative 
of  British  Society  to  Jubilee,  320; 
address  by,   at  Jubilee,   321. 

Phillips,  William,  death  of,  98. 

Pierson,  John  S.,  distribution  of 
Bibles  by,  to  sailors,  379;  death  of, 
444. 

Pierson,  Rev.  Mr.,  Agent  of  Society 
in    Hayti,    219. 

Pinckney,  Charles  C,  Vice-President, 
30;  death  of,  288. 

Pinkerton,  Mr.,  arrangement  by,  to 
publish  modern  translations  for  use 
in    Jerusalem,    149-150. 

Pintard,  John,  appointed  Recording 
Secretary  and  Accountant,  65; 
elected  Vice-President,  99. 

Piper,  Rev.  John,  work  of,  on  trans- 
lation of  Japanese  Version,  361. 

Pittsburg  Auxiliary,  supplies  immi- 
grants passing  through,  126;  and 
troops  passing  through  city  (1845- 
47),   183. 

Pixley,  Rev.  Dr.,  of  Zulu  Mission,  362. 

Plummer,  Rev.  Dr.  William  S., 
quoted,  96;  on  World  Supply,  113, 
115,   117- 

Poinsett,  J.   H.,  mentioned,  78. 

Ponape  language,  Bible  translated 
into,  362. 

Popoff,  Rev.  Mr.,  Sub-Agent  in  Bul- 
garia,  519- 

Porter,  Mr.,  mentioned,  406;  distri- 
bution by,  in  Syria,  426. 

Porter,  Rev.  M.  B.,  South  Atlantic 
Agency    Secretary,    461. 

Porto  Rico,  Scriptures  sent  to  (1820), 
57;   distribution  in,  218. 

Portuguese  Scriptures,  126,  360; 
printed  in  New  York,  155,  199; 
revision   of,   474. 

Posey,  Thomas,  Vice-President,  30. 

Pratt,  Rev.  A.  T.,  revision  of  Turkish 
version  begun  by,  426. 


598 


INDEX 


Pratt,  Rev.  Dr.  H.  B.,  preparation  of 
Version  Moderna  by,  130,  479; 
missionary  at  Bogota,  223;  work  of 
on  translation  of  Spanish  version, 
360;  death  of,  479. 

Prayer,  question  of  having,  at  Board 
meetings,   62. 

Presbyterian  Board  of  Home  Mis- 
sions, assistance  to,  in  preparation 
of  Navaho  version,  447. 

Presbyterian  Mission  in  Shanghai 
introduced  sale  of  Scriptures, 
311. 

Presbyterian  Mission  Press  in  Beirut, 
Arabic  Bible  printed  at,  331. 

Presidents  of  Society,  election  of,  29, 
71,  72,  97,  196,  268,  348,  349.  442, 
443;  list  of,  541. 

Price,  Rev.  Mr.,  translation  of  Scrip- 
tures into  Chamorro  language  by, 
448. 

Prime,   Rev.   S.   I.,  elected  Secretary, 

(1849),   197. 
Prince,     George     H.,     Agent     in     St. 

Petersburg,   380,    381. 
Printing  for  Society  abroad,  366. 
Protestant     Bible     Society     of     Paris, 

formed   (1818),  58. 
Protestant  Episcopal  Mission,  grant  to, 

in  Mexico,  302. 
Protestant      Evangelical      Community, 

established  in  Turkey,  230. 
Prothero,    Mr.,    colporteur    in    China, 

404. 
Proudfit,    Dr.,    quoted   on   question    of 

supplying  Bibles  to  destitute,  86, 
Prussian  War,  distribution  to  soldiers 

in,  298. 
Pueblo,  distribution  in,  220. 
Punderford,  James  A.,  death  of,  445. 
Punta    Arenas,    result    of    distribution 

in,  475- 
Purdie,   S.   A.,  Friends'  missionary  in 

Mexico,  394. 

Q 

Quakers  "  Holy  Experiment "  estab- 
lished in  Pennsylvania  by,   i. 

"  Quarterly  Extracts,"  issued  by 
American  Bible  Society,  53. 

Quechua  Indians,  translation  for, 
76,  477- 

R 

Ragatz,  Rev.  Dr.  A.  P.,  V/estern 
Agency    Secretary,    463. 


Ralston,  Robert,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,    29,   32. 

Randolph,  A,  D.  P.,  death  of,  444. 

Rankin,  Melinda,  Scriptures  distrib- 
uted among  Mexicans  by,  220,  301. 

Rankin,  Rev.  W.  B.,  370. 

Reed,  Rev.  W.  H.,  of  United  Pres- 
byterian   mission    in    Egypt,    5,    19. 

Reid,  Rev.  H.  A.,  army  chaplain, 
quoted,  274. 

Religious  Tract  Society  in  London,  7. 

lienville,  Mr.,  assistance  of,  in  Dakota 
translation,   359. 

Revision  Committees  in  China,  496, 
497- 

Reynolds,  Rev.  S.,  retirement  of,  as 
District   Superintendent,    370. 

Rhea,  Vice-President  Samuel,  death 
of,  288. 

Rhea,  Rev.  S.  H.,  translation  of  Azer- 
baijan Turkish  version  undertaken 
by,  363. 

Rhode  Island  Bible  Society,  Centen- 
nial of,  457. 

Rice,  John  H.,  delegate  to  first  con- 
vention, 23;  member  of  Committee 
on    Constitution,   25. 

Riggs,  Rev.  Dr.  Elias,  Bible  transla- 
tion by,  167;  printing  of  Bible  in 
Armenian  supervised  by,  199; 
translator  of  Bulgarian  version, 
360;  work  of,  as  translator,  425, 
426;  death  of,  516. 

Riggs,  Dr.  S.  R.,  grant  of  money  to, 
by  Society  for  printing  Dakota 
translation,  200;  translations  of, 
329,  359. 

Righter,  Rev.  Chester  N.,  Agent  of 
Bible    Society  in   Turkey,   232-233. 

Rijutei,  Mr.,  Korean  official,  conver- 
sion of,  418. 

Riley,  Rev.  H.  C,  missionary  in 
Mexico  City,  302,  394. 

Rio  Janeiro,  attempt  of  Huguenots  to 
found  colony  at,  223. 

Roberts,  Rev,  Mr.,  translation  of  St. 
Luke  into  Arapahoe  by,  447. 

Robertson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  E.  W., 
New  Testament  translated  into 
Muskokee  by,  366,  447. 

Robertson,  Dr.,  missionary  to  Greece, 
132. 

Robinson,  Rev.  Charles,  missionary  in 
Siam,  240. 

Robinson,  Rev.  Dr.  Edward,  member 
of    Committee    on    Versions,    249. 


INDEX 


599 


Rochester,  meeting  called  in,  to  relieve 
local  destitution,  85. 

Rockland  County  Auxiliary,  men- 
tioned, 340,  457. 

Rodgers,  Rev.  James  B.,  missionary 
in  Manila,   quoted,  508. 

Rodgers,  John  R.  B.,  on  first  Board 
of  Managers,  29. 

Rodriguez,  Col.,  influence  of  Bible  on, 
quoted,   301. 

Roman  Catholic  Church,  attitude  of 
American  Bible  Society  toward, 
217-218;  opposition  of,  in  Latin 
American  countries,  219,  221-222, 
223,  224;  control  of  men's  mind 
and  conduct  in  Mohammedan  sys- 
tem compared  to  that  of,  226. 

Roman  Catholic  Congress  at  Bahia, 
Brazil,  New  Testament  Portions 
issued  by,  474. 

Roman  Catholic  Mission  in  Japan, 
edition  of  Gospels  published  by, 
484. 

Roman  Catholic  priests,  distribution 
opposed  by,  203-204,  298,  303,  305, 
306,  332,  396-397.  457,  471,  473- 
474>  475.  478,  511;  encouragement 
by,  375. 

Roman  Catholics,  Testaments  received 
by  soldiers  among,  in  Civil  War, 
274. 

Roman  Catholic  version  of  Bible 
printed,  82. 

Romeyn,  Rev.  Dr.  John  B.,  one  of 
Secretaries  of  first  Convention,  22; 
elected  Secretary  for  Domestic 
Correspondence,  30;  mentioned,  32; 
resignation  of,  65. 

Roosevelt,  President,  signs  appeal  for 
contributions,  528. 

Root,  Elihu,  visit  of,  to  South  Amer- 
ica, 475,  477. 

Ropes,  William,  213. 

Rosario,  Mr.  Milne's  field  in,  390. 

Ross,  Rev.  John,  translation  of  Korean 
version  of  New  Testament  made 
by,  418. 

Rowe,  Caleb  T.,  General  Agent,  death 
of,  441. 

Russia,  expressions  of  good-will  from, 
34;  Scriptures  distributed  in,  144, 
299,  380,  525;  aid  given  Bible 
work  in,  by  American  Society,  213; 
Bibles  distributed  among  Germans 
of  Southern,  230;  Imperial  Bible 
Society  of,  381. 


Russian  Bible  Society,  publication  of 
Scriptures  by,  149;  Bible  published 
in  Ancient  Armenian  by,  227. 

Rutgers,  Henry,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,   29;   mentioned,   32. 


Sage,  Mrs.  Russell,  gift  of,  to  So- 
ciety, 528. 

St.  Croix,  Island  of,  Scriptures  sent 
to   (1820),  57. 

St.   Louis  Bible  Society,  176. 

St.   Thomas,    Scriptures   sent   to,   218. 

Salonica,  Scriptures  introduced  into 
Greek  schools  in,  428. 

Sam   Kiong  Colloquial    Version,   497. 

Samoa,  Gilbert  Islands  Bible  sent  to, 
362. 

Sampson,  Rev.  Mr.,  introduces  Scrip- 
tures into  Greek  schools  in  Salo- 
nica, 428. 

San  Domingo,  Scriptures  sent  to,  218; 
difficulty    of    distribution    in,    388. 

Sands,  Joshua,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,   29. 

Sandwich  Islands,  Missionaries  leave 
for  (1819),  59;  Scriptures  dis- 
tributed in,  144.     See  Hawaii. 

San  Francisco  Bible  Society,  organ- 
ised, 177;  work  of,  at  period  of 
gold  discovery,  201—202. 

Santander,  F.  B.,  elected  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  Society,  81. 

Saratoga  County  Auxiliary,  mentioned, 
340. 

Sarkis,  Arabic  version  by,  330. 

Sauer,  Christopher,  first  Bible  printed 
in  America  by,  2. 

Sayre,  Rev.  Dr.  G.  H.,  death  of,  287. 

Scandinavia,  money  granted  to  mis- 
sionaries in,  for  distribution,  297, 
526. 

Schauffler,  Rev.  Dr.,  Hebrew-Spanish 
version  of  Psalms  prepared  by, 
151;  money  granted  to,  for  trans- 
lation, 159;  work  of,  as  translator 
of  Turkish,   167,  425,  426. 

Schereschewski,  Bishop,  translation  of 
Scriptures  into  Mandarin  by,  310, 
311,  361;  tribute  to,  497-499. 

Schermerhorn,  J.  M.,  first  Missionary 
to  explore  West,  11. 

Schmidt,  George,  colporteur  in  South 
America,  303;  death  of,  and  trib- 
ute  to,    391. 


6oo 


INDEX 


Schwartz,  Dr.  Herbert  W.,  appointed 
Agent  in  Japan,  488. 

Scio  version  of  Bible,  printed,  82; 
plates   of,    destroyed,    130. 

Scotland,  National  Bible  Society  of, 
mentioned,    100,   483,    485,   497. 

Scranton,  Dr.,  missionary  to  Korea, 
418. 

Scudder,  Dr.  John,  missionary  to  In- 
dia, 131,  159;  appeal  of,  from  Mad- 
ras,  156. 

Scudder,  Rev.  Henry  J.,  elected  Act- 
ing Recording  Secretary,  445. 

Scudder,  Rev.  Moses  L.,  appointed 
General  Delegate  to  Conferences 
and   Synods,    197. 

Secretaries  of  American  Bible  So- 
ciety, importance  of  position  of, 
289-290;  division  of  work  of,  290; 
list  of,   554,  555- 

Sellew,  T.  G.,  death  of,  445. 

Serampore,   Bible  printing  in,   59. 

Servia,  distribution  not  permitted  in, 
428. 

Seward,  William  H.,  mentioned,  126; 
quoted,  127. 

Shanghai,  Scriptures  printed  in,  366; 
Missionary  Conferences  in,  406- 
407. 

Shanghai  Colloquial  Version,  497. 

Shantung    Colloquial    Version,    497. 

Shelby,  Isaac,  Vice-President,   29. 

Shields,  Thomas,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29. 

Siam,  work  of  translation  in,  240; 
Scriptures  printed  in,  309;  Agency 
in,  409. 

Siamese  Version,  preparation  of,  240- 
241;  completion  of,  492. 

Siberia,   distribution  in,   381,   382. 

Sickles,  Gen.  Daniel  E.,  Bibles  re- 
leased in  Spain  through  influence 
of,    306. 

Sierra  Leone,  Bibles  sent  to  coloured 
colonists  in,  59. 

Simonton,  Rev.  Mr.,  missionary  at 
Rio  Janeiro,  224,  304,  396. 

Simpson,  Rev.  J.  J.,  Agent  in  Ken- 
tucky,   172,    179. 

Singapore,  mission  station  at,  242. 

Sioux  version  of  Scriptures,  200. 
Slaves,    action   of   Board   toward   sup- 
plying with  Bibles,  137,  185-187. 
Sleeper,  Jacob,  Vice-President,  351. 
Smith,  Rev.  Daniel,  Western  tour  of, 
13. 


Smith,  Rev.  Dr.  Eli,  translator  of 
New  Testament  into  Arabic,  233- 
234;  pattern  of  Arabic  letters 
drawn  by,  330;  translation  of 
Bible   into   Arabic  begun  by,  331. 

Smith,  Captain  John,  Jamestown  pro- 
vided with  a  church  by,  2. 

Smith,  John  Cotton,  Vice-President, 
29;  elected  President,  97-98; 
quoted,  133,  168;  address  delivered 
by,  at  twenty-fifth  Anniversary, 
162;  death  of,  196;  age  of,  at 
death,  269. 

Smith,  Rev.  Dr.  T.  Ralston,  Secre- 
tary of  Bible  Society,  289,  290, 
355. 

Smyrna,  Mission  Press  in,   149. 

Snow,  Rev.  Mr.,  missionary  in  Ku- 
saie,  309. 

Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Chris- 
tian Knowledge,  7. 

Society  for  Propagation  of  Gospel  in 
Foreign  Parts,  7. 

Somerset  County  (N.  J.)  Auxiliary, 
mentioned,   457. 

Sommers,  Rev.  Charles,  elected  a  Sec- 
retary for  Domestic  Correspond- 
ence, 99;  becomes  Corresponding 
Secretary  of  American  and  Foreign 
Bible   Society,    142. 

Soochow   Colloquial  Version,  497. 

Soudan,  decrease  of  illiteracy  in,   519. 

South  America,  early  work  of  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society  in,  144,  221-225; 
labours  of  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  in,  224-225;  perma- 
nent Agent  appointed  to  Argentina, 
295-296;  distribution  in,  303; 
Agencies    in,    390-393- 

South  Atlantic  Agency,  organised,  461; 
circulation  in,  465. 

South  Carolina  Bible  Convention,  cor- 
dial resolution  passed  at,  254. 

Southern  States,  Auxiliary  Societies  in, 
sever  relations  after  opening  of 
Civil  War,  259-260;  conditions  in, 
at  close  of  Civil  War,  277-278;  re- 
newal of  relations  by  Auxiliaries  in, 
279-281. 

South  Sea  Islands,  plan  to  evangelise, 
7- 

Southwestern  Agency,  organised,  462; 
circulation   in,   465. 

Southwestern  Bible  Society,  Bible 
House  built  by,  176;  distribution 
by,  189;  co-operation  of,  with 
American  Bible  Society,  280;  activ- 


INDEX 


6oi 


ities  of,  in  period  following  Civil 
War,  291-292. 

Spain,  Bibles  distributed  in,  174,  386; 
opposition  to  distribution  in,  306, 
527;  grants  to  American  Mission 
in,   387,   527. 

Spalding,  Rev.  Mr.,  Methodist  mis- 
sionary to  Brazil,  244;  appeal  of, 
155. 

Spanish  Version,  printed  by  American 
Bible  Society,  51,  126,  199,  476; 
revision  of,  473,  480,  481. 

Spaulding,  Rev.  H.  H.,  translator  of 
Bible  into  Nez  Perce  dialect,  366. 

Spring,  Rev.  Gardiner,  delegate  to 
first  Convention  American  Bible 
Society,  22;  mentioned,  194;  chair- 
man of  Committee  on  Versions, 
249,  253;  address  by,  at  Jubilee, 
321 ;   death  of,  347. 

Stalker,  Rev.  James,  of  Scotland  at 
seventy-fifth   anniversary,   431. 

Stallybrass,  Rev.  E.,  aided  to  print 
Mongolian  Testament,   144. 

Stamboul,  Bible  House  in,  420-422. 

Standard  Bible,  preparation  and  issu- 
ance of,  249;  storm  of  criticism 
directed  against,  250;  action  taken 
by  Bible  Society  concerning,  250- 
253- 

"  Standing  Committee  "  of  Board 
formed,  64. 

Starr,  Chandler,  death  of,  354. 

Sterry,   G.   E.,  death  of,  444. 

Stevens,    Bishop,   quoted,    361. 

Stevenson,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.,  delegate 
to  seventy-fifth  anniversary.  431. 

Stiles,  Rev.  Joseph  C,  election  and 
resignation  of,  as  Secretary,  197. 

Stockholm,  Scriptures  printed  in,  366. 

Stokes,  Thomas,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,   29. 

Stone,  Dr.  Mary,  Hospital  of,  at  Kiu- 
kiang,  493. 

Storrs,  Rev.  R.  S.,  Jr.,  member  of 
Committee  on  Versions,  249,  250- 
253;  Jubilee  sermon  by,  320;  Presi- 
dent of  American  Board  of  Mis- 
sions, 431. 

"  Story  of  the  American  Bible  So- 
ciety," publication  issued  by  So- 
ciety, 446. 

Strafford  (N.  H.),  Bible  Society, 
work  done  by,  124. 

Stringfield,  Rev.  Thomas,  Agent  of 
Society,  178. 

Strong,   Caleb,   Vice-President,   29. 


Strong,  Rev.  W.  S.,  Sub-Agent  in 
China,  500. 

Stuart,  George  Hay,  quoted  on  work 
of  Christian  Commission  during 
Civil  War,  275-276;  President  of 
Christian  Commission,  291;  Vice- 
President  of  Society,  352. 

Stuntz,  Rev.  Homer  C,  of  the  Philip- 
pines, quoted,  508-509. 

Sturges,  Rev.  A.  A.,  translator  of 
Ponape   version,   362. 

Sturges,  Frederick,  death  of,  445. 

Sturges,  Jonathan,  death  of,  354. 

Stuyvesant,  Peter  G.,  death  of,  196. 

Suckley,  George,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29. 

Surinam,  Bibles  sent  to,  97. 

Sussex  County  (N.  J.)  Auxiliary, 
mentioned,  457. 

Sutton,  Rev.  A.,  Baptist  Missionary 
in  India,  239. 

Suydam,  James,  Vice-President  of  So- 
ciety, 353. 

Swan,  Benjamin  L.,  death  of,  288. 

Swedish  Scriptures,  126,  382. 

Swift,  Gen.  J.  G.,  death  of,  287. 


Taft,  J.  H.,  death  of,  443. 

Talbot,  Charles  N.,  member  of  Finance 
Committee,  353. 

Tamil  Version,  in  Ceylon,  103,  104, 
106,  238,  239. 

Tank,  Rev.  Otto,  translator  of  Book 
of  Acts  into  Arawack,  223. 

Tappan,  John,  Vice-President  of  So- 
ciety, 349. 

Taylor,  A.  L.,  Assistant  Treasurer  of 
Society,  289,  356. 

Taylor,  Rev.  Dr.  Lachlin,  representa- 
tive to  Jubilee,  320. 

Taylor,  Rev.  Dr.  Nathaniel  W.,  dele- 
gate to  first  Convention  American 
Bible   Society,  22. 

Taylor,  Rev.  Dr.  W.  J.  R.,  285;  service 
as  Corresponding  Secretary  of 
Bible   Society,   290. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  quoted  on  value  of 
Bible,   204,   205. 

Telmonde,  Father,  destruction  of 
Bibles  by,  203. 

Telugu   Bible,  revision  of,  363. 

Tenney,  E.  P.,  death  of,  445- 

Tenth  Anniversary,  sympathy  with 
Latin  Americans  expressed  at,   75. 


6o2 


INDEX 


Texas  Auxiliaries,  Bibles  sent  to,  for 
soldiers  (1845-47).  183. 

Texas  Auxiliary  Bible  Society,   112. 

Thibet,   distribution  in,   404. 

Thompson,  Rev.  B.  P.,  Agent  of  So- 
ciety in  Mexico,  220. 

Thompson,  Rev.  Henry  C,  member  of 
Committee  on  Revision  of  Spanish 
Version,  480,  481. 

Thompson,  James,  Agent  of  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society,   57,  ^(i. 

Thompson,    Smith,   Vice-President,   29. 

Thompson,  Mr.  W.  L.,  Panama,  397. 

Thomson,  Archdeacon,  mentioned,  498. 

Thorne,  Mr.,  colporteur  in  China,  405. 

Tilghman,  William,  Vice-President,  29; 
death  of,  98. 

Tonga  Version,  362. 

Torrance,  Rev.  Thomas,  Sub-Agent  in 
China,  501. 

Tower,  Rev.  W.  H.,  Eastern  Agency 
Secretary,  463. 

Tracy,  Charles,  Vice-President  of  So- 
ciety, 353. 

Translations,  regulations  respecting  ap- 
propriations  for,    559. 

Translators  and  revisors,  list  of  mis- 
sionary, 565-569. 

Travelling  Agents,  appointed  to  ani- 
mate Auxiliaries,   125. 

Treasurers  of  Society,  list  of,  554-555. 

Troup,  Robert,  death  of,  99. 

Trowbridge,  C.  C,  Vice-President  of 
Society,    351. 

Trumbull,  Rev.  D.,  work  of,  in  Chile, 
222,  390;  in  Valparaiso,  303;  men- 
tioned, 392. 

Tsuda,  Mr.,  Japanese  official,  conver- 
sion of,  417. 

Tucker,  Rev.  H.  C,  Agent  in  Brazil, 
397»  474. 

Tucker,   Rev.  W.  J.,  quoted,  357. 

Turkey,  American  missions  in,  22^; 
origin  of  Protestant  Evangelical 
Community  in,  230;  progress  of 
work  of  Bible  Society  in,  231-235; 
donations  from,  to  be  used  in  giv- 
ing the  Bible  to  freedmen,  284;  op- 
position to  distribution  in,  421,  512; 
Agency  in,  422;  distribution  in, 
422,  424;  German  Emperor's  visit 
to,  514;  disturbances  in  1898-1914, 
514—515;  unexpected  encourage- 
ment in,  517. 

Turkish  version  of  Bible,  65,  149,  360, 
425. 

Turner,    Madam    Clorinda    Matto    de, 


translation  of  Gospels  for  Quechua 

Indians  undertaken  by,  476. 
Turner,  Rev.  Dr.   Samuel  H.,  member 

of  Committee  on  Versions,  249. 
Tuttle,  E.  B.,  death  of,  444. 
Tuttle,   Rev.    Samuel   L.,   services  and 

death  of,  289. 
Tyng,    Rev.    Dr.    S.    H.,    mentioned, 

194,  210. 
Tyrol,   Bible  given  to  chapel   in  the, 

383. 


U 


Underwood,  Rev.  H.  G.,  work  of,  on 
Korean  Version,  418,  486. 

Union  Revision  in  China,  497. 

United  States  Navy,  grant  of  Bibles 
to    (1820),   54. 

Urdu,  Scriptures  printed  in,  at  Luck- 
now,  239,  308. 

Uriya,  Scriptures  printed  in,  135,  308; 
grants  for  translations,  239. 

Uruguay,  mentioned,  222,  223;  Mr. 
Milne  in,  390. 

Utah,  Bible  distribution  in,  177. 

Utica,  Bibles  supplied  to  immigrants 
passing  through,  126. 


Valera  Version,  adopted,  130;  revised 
(i860),   199,  478,  480,  481. 

Valez,  Don  Justo,  Life  Directorship  of 
Society  offered  to,  77. 

Valparaiso,  American  Consul  distrib- 
utes Bibles  in,  57;  Scriptures  dis- 
tributed from,  77;  Mr.  Wheel- 
wright arrives  in,    147. 

Valparaiso  Bible  Society,  mentioned, 
303.  390,  476. 

Van  Diessel,  Rev.  S.,  translator  of 
Bible    into    Creolese,    329. 

Van  Dyck,  Rev.  Dr.  C.  V.  A.,  trans- 
lator of  Bible  into  Arabic,  234; 
gift  to  Society  by,  284;  Arabic 
translation  revised  and  completed 
by,   331- 

V^an  Norden,  Mr.,  mentioned,  396. 

Van  Rensselaer,  Alexander,  death  of, 
354. 

Van  Rensselaer,  Stephen,  on  first 
Board  of  Managers,  29;  mentioned, 
32. 

Van  Wagenen,  Hubert,  elected  Treas- 
urer, 100;  resignation  of,  120; 
death  of,   196. 


INDEX 


603 


Varick,  Richard,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29;  elected  Treasurer  of 
Society,  30;  relations  of,  with 
Washington,  32;  resignation  of,  as 
Treasurer,  66;  elected  Vice-Presi- 
dent, 66;  elected  President,  72; 
mentioned,  74;  death  of,  97. 

Venezuela,  work  of  Agent  of  Society 
in,  221-222;  Society  established  in, 
470,   477- 

Vera  Cruz,   distribution  in,  220. 

Verbeck,  Rev.  Dr.,  one  of  first  mis- 
sionaries to  Japan,  313;  translator 
of  Scriptures,   361,  414. 

Vermilye,  Rev.  Dr.,  Jubilee  sermon 
by,  319- 

Vermilye,  Washington  R.,  member  of 
Finance  Committee,  353. 

Vermont  Bible  Society,  tries  to  aid 
French  Canadian,  63;  donation 
from,  to  American  Society,  88; 
distribution  by,  175;  Bibles  given 
to  soldiers  in  Civil  War  by,  272. 

Vernon,  Rev.  L.  M.,  missionary  in 
Rome,  387. 

Version  Moderna,  issued,  130,  479. 

Versions.     See   Foreign   Languages. 

Vice-Presidents  of  Society,  mentioned, 
349-352,  353;   list  of,  542-546. 

Vienna,  Scriptures  printed  in,  366. 

Vieques,  missionary  work  on  island 
of,  388. 

Villegagnon,  betrayer  of  French  Hu- 
guenots in  Brazil,  223. 

Vinita,   conference  at,  366. 

Vinton,  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander,  Jubilee 
sermon  by,  320. 

Virginia,  Bibles  sent  to  mountain  dis- 
tricts of,  64. 

Virginia  Bible  Society,  mentioned,  114, 
340;  distribution  by,  175;  course 
followed  by,  during  Civil  War, 
263-264;  resumes  Auxiliary  rela- 
tionship, 280;  co-operation  of,  in 
organisation  of  South  Atlantic 
Agency,  461. 

Vroom,  Peter  D.,  Vice-President,  350. 

Vulgate  Version  of  Bible,  129-130. 


W 


Waite,  Rev.  H.  C,  distribution  by,  in 
Italy,  387. 

Waite,  W.  B.,  of  the  New  York  In- 
stitution for  the  Blind,  524;  gift 
of  printing  press  to  Society  by, 
524. 


Waldensian  Committee  in  Florence, 
money  granted  to,   305. 

Walker,  Samuel  J.,  urges  preparation 
of  Spanish  Testament  for  use  in 
California,    189. 

Walker  expedition  to  Nicaragua,  Bible 
distribution  stopped  by,  220-221. 

Wallace,  Joshua  M.,  Chairman  of  first 
Convention  of  American  Bible  So- 
ciety, 22,  24. 

Walsh,   A.    Robertson,    Vice-President, 

353. 

Ward,  Rev.  Mr.,  connection  with 
Bible  printing  in   India,   59. 

Ward,  Rev.  Dr.,  retirement  of,  as 
District    Superintendent,    370. 

Warder,  John,  on  first  Board  of  Mana- 
gers, 29. 

Ware,  James,  colporteur,  manager  of 
Shanghai  office  and  translator,  406; 
Agent  ad  interim  in  China,  409. 

Warner,  George,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,  29. 

Warner,  Henry  W.,  delegate  to  Con- 
vention of    1816,  347-348, 

Washington,  Bushrod,  Vice-President, 
29;   death  of,  99. 

Washington,  D.  C,  general  Bible  Con- 
vention at  (1844),  204. 

Washington  City  Bible  Society,  dona- 
tions of,  154;  adopts  Walker  reso- 
lution, 189;  distribution  to  soldiers 
by,  272-273. 

Washington  County  (N.  Y.)  Bible 
Society,  distribution  by,  85;  men- 
tioned, 86,  109,  340. 

Watts,  Dr.  John,  on  first  Board  of 
Managers,   29;  death  of,  99. 

Wayland,  Rev.  Dr.  Francis,  men- 
tioned,  140;  quoted,   143. 

Weakley,  Rev.  R.  H.,  on  Committee 
for  revision  of  Turkish  Scriptures, 
426. 

Welsh  Auxiliaries,  donations  from, 
340. 

Welsh  Scriptures,  126;  printed  at 
Bible  House,   199. 

Wenli  Version,  decision  to  make,  497. 

Westchester  County  Auxiliary  Bible 
Society,  extract  from  report  of, 
62;  mentioned,  340,  457. 

Western  Agency,  organised,  461:  cir- 
culation in,  465. 

West  Indies,  Scriptures  sent  to,  for 
distribution,  77;  work  in  desultory 
(1866),  304;  problem  of,  for  So- 
ciety's labours,  470-471. 


6o4 


INDEX 


Westrup,  Thomas,  Agent  in  Mexico, 
301,  302,  393. 

Wharton,  Rev.  Dr.,  member  of  Com- 
mittee on  Resolutions  to  unite  Bible 
Societies,   16. 

Wheeler,  Rev.  D.  H.,  Agent  of  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society,  killed  in  Nica- 
ragua, 220-221. 

Wheeler,  Rev.  L.  L.,  Agent  in  China, 
409;  death  of,  493. 

Wheeling,  Bibles  supplied  to  immi- 
grants  passing  through,   126. 

Wheelwright,  Rev.  Isaac  W.,  Agent  in 
Chile,  146,  222. 

Whipple,  Rev.  W.  L,,  Agent  for  Per- 
sia,  424,    526. 

Wliite,  Bishop,  President  of  Philadel- 
phia Bible  Society,  34;  quoted,  zi' 

White,  Norman,  Vice-President  of 
Society,  353. 

Whitlock,  William,  Treasurer  of  So- 
ciety, 356. 

Whitten,  Rev.  S.  P.,  retirement  of, 
as  District  Superintendent,  370. 

Wilder,  S.  V.  S.,  mentioned,  58. 

Williams,  Bishop  D.  C,  translator  of 
Scriptures,   361. 

Williams,  John  L.,  death  of,  444. 

Williams,  Rev.  Dr.  M.  H.,  delegate 
to  seventy-fifth  anniversary,  431. 

Williams,  Dr.  S.  Wells,  mentioned,  23; 
supplying  of  Bibles  to  overland 
stage  stations  due  to,  201;  mission- 
ary to  China,  244;  Japanese  trans- 
lation attempted  by,  313;  elected 
Presidest  of  Society,  348;  death  of, 
349- 

Williams,  William,  delegate  to  first 
Convention  American  Bible  So- 
ciety, 22,. 

Williams,  Rev.  Dr.  W.  R.,  Jubilee 
sermon  by,  320. 

Williamson,  Rev.  Dr.  T.  S.,  money 
granted  to,  for  translations  into 
Dakota  language,  200;  mentioned, 
329;   story   of  method,   359. 

Wilmer,  Rev.  Simon,  member  of  Com- 
mittee on  Constitution,  25 ;  men- 
tioned, 30. 

Wilson,  i\Ir.,  sells  Spanish  Bibles  in 
Mexico   City,  Tj. 

Wilson,  Peter,  on  first  Board  of  Man- 
agers, 29. 

Winslow,  R.  F.,  elected  Recording 
Secretary,   99;    resignation   of,    i2t. 

Winslow,  Rev.  Mr.,  missionary  in 
India,     urges    world     supply,     117; 


quoted,  122,  131;  receives  grant  for 
printing   Tamil    Scriptures,    159. 

Winston,  Frederick  S.,  Vice-President, 
352- 

Winthrop,  Robert  C,  address  by,  at 
Jubilee,  Z2Z\  death  of,  444. 

Wix,  Archdeacon,  missionary  to  Lab- 
rador fishermen,  112;  money  sent 
to,  for  fishermen,   144. 

Wolcott,  F.  H.,  Vice-President,  352. 

Wood,  James,  elected  President  of 
Society,  443;  visit  of,  to  Panama, 
480. 

Woodbridge,  Dr.,  President  of  Vir- 
ginia  Bible   Society,  281. 

Woodhull,  Rev.  Dr.  S.  S.,  elected  Sec- 
retary for  Domestic  Correspond- 
ence, 66;  resignation  and  re-election 
of,  99- 

Woolsey,  Edward  J.,  death  of,  354. 

W^oolsey,  W.  W.,  elected  Treasurer, 
66;  elected  Vice-President,  99. 

Worcester's  Dictionary,  copyright  and 
income  from  sales  donated  to 
American  Bible  Society  and  Ameri- 
can Peace  Society,  284. 

Worthington,  Thomas,  Vice-President, 
30;  death  of,  98. 

Wragg,  Rev.  Dr.,  distribution  by, 
among  coloured  people,  466. 

Wright,  Charles,  member  of  Commit- 
tee on  Constitution,  25;  on  first 
Board    of    Managers,    29. 

Wright,   G.    G.,  death   of,   444. 

Wright,  J.  A.,  death  of,  288. 

Wright,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  N.,  work  of,  as 
translator,    363. 


Yokohama,  Scriptures  printed  in,  366; 
depository  in,  opened,  412;  Bible 
House  in,  burned,  483;  headquar- 
ters of  Society  in,  484. 

Young  Men's  Bible  Society  of  Cin- 
cinnati, co-operation  of,  in  organi- 
sation of  Central  Agency,  462. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
organisation  of  Christian  Commis- 
sion by,  during  Civil  War,  275; 
quartered  in  Bible  House,  333. 

Young  Men's  New  York  Bible  Society, 
becomes  Auxiliary,  93,  94;  offers 
money  for  Chinese  Scriptures,  124; 
takes  name  of  New  York  Bible  So- 
ciety, 94. 


INDEX 


605 


Zapotec,  Gospel  of  St.  John  published 
^  in.  473- 

ZacchpiiQ      T      W       f«o..  A        •  Zulu  Version,  translating  and  printing 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America. 


'HE  following  pages  contain  advertisements  of  a 
few  of  the  Macmillan  books  on  kindred  subjects 


XrtD  3300&S  on  a^leltston 


The  Gospel  of  Good  Will  as  Revealed  in 
Contemporary  Christian  Scriptures 

Thb  Lyman  Bbecher  Lectures  at  Yale  University  for  1916 

By  WILLIAM  DeWITT  HYDE 

President  of  Bowdoin  College  and  Author  of  "  The  Five  Great 
Philosophies  of  Life,"  etc 

Cloth,  izmo 

This  book  goes  straight  to  the  heart  of  the  Gospel  to  be 
preached  and  practiced  —  the  Gospel  that  Christ  expects  men 
to  be  great  enough  to  make  the  good  of  all  affected  by  their 
action,  the  object  of  their  wills,  as  it  is  the  object  of  the  will  of 
God.  "  The  Christian,"  President  Hyde  writes,  "  is  not  a  '  plas- 
ter saint'  who  holds  'safety  first'  to  be  the  supreme  spiritual 
grace,  but  the  man  who  earns  and  spends  his  money,  controls 
his  appetites,  chooses  peace  or  war  and  does  whatever  his  hand 
finds  to  do  with  an  eye  single  to  the  greatest  good  of  all  con- 
cerned. Sin  is  falling  short  of  this  high  heroic  aim.  ...  To 
the  Christian  every  secular  vocation  is  a  chance  to  express  Good 
Will  and  sacrifice  is  the  price  he  gladly  pays  for  the  privilege. 
.  .  .  Christian  character  and  Christian  virtues  will  come  not  by 
direct  cultivation  but  as  by-products  of  Good  Will  expressed  in 
daily  life.  The  church  is  a  precious  and  sacred  instrument  for 
transforming  men  and  institutions  into  sons  and  servants  of 
Good  Will."  These  extracts  indicate  in  a  measure  the  trend  of 
President  Hyde's  theme  which  he  has  treated  fully  and  in  a 
practical  way  that  will  appeal  to  all  thinkers. 


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What  Jesus  Christ  Thought  of  Himself 
By  ANSON  PHELPS  STOKES 

Cloth,  j2mo 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  show  in  clear,  com- 
pact form  and  in  untechnical  language  what  any  in- 
telligent student  of  the  New  Testament  may  find  out 
for  himself  as  to  Jesus's  view  of  his  own  person.  A 
secondary  purpose  has  been  to  interpret  this  self- 
revealed  personality.  The  author  divides  his  discus- 
sion into  two  main  parts :  The  Human  Side  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  The  Divine  Side  of  Jesus  Christ.  Under 
the  former  he  takes  up  Christ's  consciousness  of  his 
limitations,  his  consciousness  that  he  was  representing 
another  and  his  consciousness  of  his  subordination  in 
prayer.  Under  the  latter  he  considers  Christ  as  Mas- 
ter of  the  Past,  Master  of  the  Present  and  Master  of 
the  Future.  The  book  concludes  with  a  chapter  on 
the  reconciliation  of  the  human  and  the  divine  ele- 
ments. 


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The  Mighty  and  the  Lowly 

By  KATRINA  TRASK 

Cloth,  i2mo,  $1.00 

As  "In  the  Vanguard"  was  a  stirring  plea  for  universal 
peace,  so  "  The  Mighty  and  the  Lowly  "  is  a  plea  for  social 
reform  through  a  ^ight  understanding  of  the  teaching  of 
Jesus.  Writing  with  her  accustomed  vigor  and  charm,  Mrs. 
Trask  combats  the  idea  that  Christ  was  set  against  any  par- 
ticular class  —  rich  or  poor.  The  theme  is  built  around  actual 
events  in  the  life  of  Jesus,  and  the  reader  will  find  his  inter- 
est stirred  by  the  dramatic  power  of  the  book  as  well  as  by  its 
argument. 


What  IS  a  Christian? 

By  JOHN  WALKER  POWELL 

Cloth,  i2mo,  $1.00 

This  is  a  clear,  straightforward  discussion  of  the  qualities 
which  to-day  characterize  a  man  who  believes  in  Christianity. 
Special  emphasis  is  put  upon  the  Christian's  relation  to  war; 
"how  far  can  a  man  lag  behind  his  Master  in  thought  and 
practice  without  forfeiting  his  right  to  the  title"  of  Christian? 
Other  chapters  treat  of  the  Christian  and  Wealth,  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  the  Christian  Ideal.  The  book  is  well  balanced, 
and  a  distinct  contribution  to  the  subject  of  the  relation  of 
the  modern  world  to  the  religion  of  Christ. 

Contents 

I.  The  Faith  of  a  Christian.  II.  The  Ethics  of  Jesus. 
III.  The  Christian  and  the  War.  IV.  The  Christian  and 
Wealth.  V.  The  Christian  Ideal.  VI.  The  Christian  Hope. 
VII.    The  Christian  Church. 


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The  Reconstruction  of  the  Church 
By  PAUL  MOORE  STRAYER 

Cloth,  i2mo.  $1.50 

The  circle  of  the  church,  the  author  maintains,  ought  to  be 
widened  to  embrace  and  utilize  the  immense  amount  of  un- 
conscious and  "  anonymous  religion "  that  exists  outside  the 
church,  and  that  the  church  must  be  Qiristianized  by  bring- 
ing the  daily  life  and  business  practices  of  its  members  into 
line  with  the  law  of  Christ.  To  this  task,  Part  I  of  Dr.  Stray- 
er's  volume  is  addressed.  In  Part  II  he  gives  a  diagnosis  of 
the  present  situation  of  the  church  in  the  light  of  this  larger 
purpose,  and  with  special  reference  to  its  program  and  method. 
Part  III  points  out  the  directions  in  which  reconstruction  is 
most  needed,  and  offers  suggestions  for  greater  efficiency. 

The  Rise  of  Modern  Religious  Ideas 
By  ARTHUR  CUSHMAN  McGIFFERT 

Cloth,  i2mo,  $i.jo 

In  "The  Rise  of  Modern  Religious  Ideas,"  Dr.  McGiffert 
shows  the  relation  of  present-day  religious  thought  to  the 
theology  of  the  past.  He  discusses  the  prevalence  of  the  re- 
ligious ideas  which  differ  more  or  less  completely  from  those 
of  the  past,  and  shows  their  origin,  indicating  the  circum- 
stances under  which  they  have  arisen  and  the  influences  by 
which  they  have  been  determined.  His  text  is  divided  into 
two  books:  I.  Disintegration,  II.  Reconstruction.  Under  the 
first  of  these  he  takes  up  such  topics  as  Pietism,  The  En- 
lightenment, Natural  Science,  The  Critical  Philosophy;  under 
the  second,  The  Emancipation  of  Religion,  The  Rebirth  of 
Speculation,  The  Rehabilitation  of  Faith,  Agnosticism,  Evo- 
lution, Divine  Immanence,  Ethical  Theism,  The  Character  of 
God,  The  Social  Emphasis,  and  Religious  Authority. 


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